AVX Corporation has more than doubled the volumetric efficiency of its tantalum technology, enabling latest versions of its TACmicrochip® Series capacitor to deliver 15µF/4V and 10µF/6V from a 0402 chip. The CV performance of these TLC Series devices is even greater than ceramic MLCC devices using the X5R dielectric.
The design of the TACmicrochip® capacitor series eliminates the need for molded plastic from the packaging - required in traditional designs - allowing much greater capacitance to be squeezed into a given package. This has increased the volumetric efficiency from less than 15% to approaching 50% - making them applicable for a much wider range of uses.
Several series of TACmicrochip® are available. High CV 15µF/4V, 10µF/6V TLC parts suit miniature application such as hearing aids, ultra-thin smart phones and tablet PCs. These devices are very stable; for example capacitance does not drop with applied DC voltage or AC ripple voltage.
The TBC Series capacitors are designed to meet the most demanding reliability requirements for military and other applications, which simply must not fail. TBC capacitors are available to three specifications: the conservative military standard CWR15, ranging from 0.47µF to 68µF; COTS-Plus devices which can be supplied tested to customized parameters; and SRC9000 devices - specially dedicated to satellites and space systems - which are subjected to special post-assembly tests to assure the highest quality levels. Both COTS-Plus and SRC9000 products are available in 0603, 0805, 1206 and 1210 case sizes - as well as 0402, the smallest tantalum capacitors on the market today.
All TBC Series capacitors are Weibull graded with three optional maximal guaranteed failure rate levels 0.1%/1000 hours, 0.01%/1000 hours and 0.001%/1000 hours, all at 90% confidence levels. This high reliability performance also makes them suitable for life-support implantable medical devices.
