Infiltration of water vapor into multi-layer ceramic capacitors under highly accelerated temperature and humidity stress tests

Abstract

Although it has been suggested that infiltration of water vapor into multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) can increase leakage current, few studies have reported how this increase is directly linked to the infiltration. In this work we performed accelerated temperature and humidity stress tests with heavy water as a tracer and investigated, using secondary ion mass spectrometry, whether traces of water vapor could be detected in MLCCs. In particular, deuterium was found in areas where an augmented leakage current was detected. It is clear that infiltration of water vapor into MLCCs increased the leakage current. This finding could lead to further improvements in MLCCs.