New Niobium Chip Cap Family Goes Commercial

The commercialization of niobium capacitors has taken a giant step forward with the recent announcement by Epcos of the availability of production quantities of the devicesÑin November, Vishay Intertechnology also announced it was sampling a series of solid niobium caps (see Nov. EE Product News, page 11). Volume shipments of the new Nb chip caps currently can be made for D-case size parts, rated at 150 µF/10V and 220 µF/6.3V, with production capacity for V-case size devices, rated at 68 µF/10V and 100 µF/6.3V, now being ramped up. Parts with higher capacitances and higher rated voltages are scheduled to be added to the family during the year. And eventually, the temperature ceiling for the components is expected to be raised from 105¡C to 125¡C.Reportedly, the new caps can also be implemented having significantly higher volumetric capacitance than tantalum parts, their chief competitors. This is expected to result in much smaller parts, enabling even further miniaturization of mobile phones and communication and information systems where the capacitors find use. For more information and pricing, contact Michael Pocsatko at EPCOS INC., Iselin, NJ. (800) 888-7729.