Passive Components Blog
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • NewsFilter
    • All
    • Aerospace & Defence
    • Antenna
    • Applications
    • Automotive
    • Capacitors
    • Circuit Protection Devices
    • electro-mechanical news
    • Filters
    • Fuses
    • Inductors
    • Industrial
    • Integrated Passives
    • inter-connect news
    • Market & Supply Chain
    • Market Insights
    • Medical
    • Modelling and Simulation
    • New Materials & Supply
    • New Technologies
    • Non-linear Passives
    • Oscillators
    • Passive Sensors News
    • Resistors
    • RF & Microwave
    • Telecommunication
    • Weekly Digest

    Bourns Releases High Inductance Common Mode Choke

    Vishay Releases Automotive TO-220 Case 50W Thick Film Power Resistor

    High Energy Density Polymer Film Capacitors via Molecular and Interfacial Design

    Bourns Releases High Clearance and Creepage 1500VDC Power Transformer

    KYOCERA AVX Expands Stacked MLCC Capacitors Offering

    Murata and QuantumScape Joint Development for Solid Batteries Ceramic Separators

    YAGEO Unveils Compact 3.6kW LLC Transformer for OBC EV Charging

    Over-Voltage Protection Clippers, Clampers, Snubbers, DC Restorers

    KYOCERA Releases Shielded Board-to-Board Connectors for Reliable EMI Protection

    Trending Tags

    • Ripple Current
    • RF
    • Leakage Current
    • Tantalum vs Ceramic
    • Snubber
    • Low ESR
    • Feedthrough
    • Derating
    • Dielectric Constant
    • New Products
    • Market Reports
  • VideoFilter
    • All
    • Antenna videos
    • Capacitor videos
    • Circuit Protection Video
    • Filter videos
    • Fuse videos
    • Inductor videos
    • Inter-Connect Video
    • Non-linear passives videos
    • Oscillator videos
    • Passive sensors videos
    • Resistor videos

    Connector PCB Design Challenges

    Efficient Power Converters: Duty Cycle vs Conduction Losses

    Ripple Steering in Coupled Inductors: SEPIC Case

    SEPIC Converter with Coupled and Uncoupled Inductors

    Coupled Inductors in SEPIC versus Flyback Converters

    Non-Linear MLCC Class II Capacitor Measurements Challenges

    Percolation Phenomenon and Reliability of Molded Power Inductors in DC/DC converters

    Root Causes and Effects of DC Bias and AC in Ceramic Capacitors

    How to Calculate the Output Capacitor for a Switching Power Supply

    Trending Tags

    • Capacitors explained
    • Inductors explained
    • Resistors explained
    • Filters explained
    • Application Video Guidelines
    • EMC
    • New Products
    • Ripple Current
    • Simulation
    • Tantalum vs Ceramic
  • Knowledge Blog
  • Suppliers
    • Who is Who
  • PCNS
    • PCNS 2025
    • PCNS 2023
    • PCNS 2021
    • PCNS 2019
    • PCNS 2017
  • Events
  • Home
  • NewsFilter
    • All
    • Aerospace & Defence
    • Antenna
    • Applications
    • Automotive
    • Capacitors
    • Circuit Protection Devices
    • electro-mechanical news
    • Filters
    • Fuses
    • Inductors
    • Industrial
    • Integrated Passives
    • inter-connect news
    • Market & Supply Chain
    • Market Insights
    • Medical
    • Modelling and Simulation
    • New Materials & Supply
    • New Technologies
    • Non-linear Passives
    • Oscillators
    • Passive Sensors News
    • Resistors
    • RF & Microwave
    • Telecommunication
    • Weekly Digest

    Bourns Releases High Inductance Common Mode Choke

    Vishay Releases Automotive TO-220 Case 50W Thick Film Power Resistor

    High Energy Density Polymer Film Capacitors via Molecular and Interfacial Design

    Bourns Releases High Clearance and Creepage 1500VDC Power Transformer

    KYOCERA AVX Expands Stacked MLCC Capacitors Offering

    Murata and QuantumScape Joint Development for Solid Batteries Ceramic Separators

    YAGEO Unveils Compact 3.6kW LLC Transformer for OBC EV Charging

    Over-Voltage Protection Clippers, Clampers, Snubbers, DC Restorers

    KYOCERA Releases Shielded Board-to-Board Connectors for Reliable EMI Protection

    Trending Tags

    • Ripple Current
    • RF
    • Leakage Current
    • Tantalum vs Ceramic
    • Snubber
    • Low ESR
    • Feedthrough
    • Derating
    • Dielectric Constant
    • New Products
    • Market Reports
  • VideoFilter
    • All
    • Antenna videos
    • Capacitor videos
    • Circuit Protection Video
    • Filter videos
    • Fuse videos
    • Inductor videos
    • Inter-Connect Video
    • Non-linear passives videos
    • Oscillator videos
    • Passive sensors videos
    • Resistor videos

    Connector PCB Design Challenges

    Efficient Power Converters: Duty Cycle vs Conduction Losses

    Ripple Steering in Coupled Inductors: SEPIC Case

    SEPIC Converter with Coupled and Uncoupled Inductors

    Coupled Inductors in SEPIC versus Flyback Converters

    Non-Linear MLCC Class II Capacitor Measurements Challenges

    Percolation Phenomenon and Reliability of Molded Power Inductors in DC/DC converters

    Root Causes and Effects of DC Bias and AC in Ceramic Capacitors

    How to Calculate the Output Capacitor for a Switching Power Supply

    Trending Tags

    • Capacitors explained
    • Inductors explained
    • Resistors explained
    • Filters explained
    • Application Video Guidelines
    • EMC
    • New Products
    • Ripple Current
    • Simulation
    • Tantalum vs Ceramic
  • Knowledge Blog
  • Suppliers
    • Who is Who
  • PCNS
    • PCNS 2025
    • PCNS 2023
    • PCNS 2021
    • PCNS 2019
    • PCNS 2017
  • Events
No Result
View All Result
Passive Components Blog
No Result
View All Result

Capacitors High Reliability Testing

2.8.2019
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A

Source: Knowles Precision Devices blog

Product durability and accelerated life cycle testing are all methods of determining the reliability of a product before release. By subjecting the capacitor to elevated conditions far beyond its normal operational ranges, we seek to discover any defects or points of failure to better inform customers about the limitations of the unit.

RelatedPosts

Bourns Releases High Inductance Common Mode Choke

Vishay Releases Automotive TO-220 Case 50W Thick Film Power Resistor

High Energy Density Polymer Film Capacitors via Molecular and Interfacial Design

Burn-In Testing

Dielectric formulations and chip capacitors are often tested for reliability under voltage and temperature for specified time periods, a process referred to as burn-in or voltage conditioning.The specifications applicable to burn-in of multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) are MIL-C-55681, MIL-C-123 and MIL-C-49467. Burn-in may also be performed to particular customer specifications. We typically use a test voltage that is twice the working voltage rating of the device, at 85°C or 125°C for a duration of 96, 100, or 168 hours of test time.

Burn-in is accomplished by loading the units in a fixture, usually a printed circuit board (PCB) which connects to a power supply with access to the rear wall of a standard oven. Units are monitored for current leakage under voltage and temperature stress, either individually or in tandem, with measurement of leakage from a group of a hundred units typically. Tandem testing is more rapid and used to mass-produce burned-in product. Sophisticated test equipment is used with automated data monitoring to record the location and time of test cycle failures.

Chip capacitors destined for high reliability testing are often designed with an added margin of safety, namely maximization of the dielectric thickness, and tested extensively for electrical properties prior to burn-in (e.g., capacitance, dissipation factor, and insulation resistance). This pre-test data is compared to the post burn-in data to evaluate the reliability of the components.

Failure Modes for Burn-In Testing

Capacitors which fail burn-in usually lose resistivity at the elevated temperature and voltage, either catastrophically or gradually with time, resulting in insulation resistance (IR) rejects. The failure rate is usually inversely proportional with time, such that more failures are observed earlier in the test cycle.

However, excellent electrical properties at 25°C may not guarantee good performance during life cycle testing for several reasons:

Poor dielectric properties: Ceramic dielectrics with elevated IR at room temperature may nevertheless experience excessive loss of resistivity at 125°C due to improper formulation. This causes the charge carriers to become mobile and develop a leakage current, decreasing the IR below specifications.

Poor microstructure: Voids, cracks or delaminations within the chip structure undermine the intrinsic resistivity of the material, providing leakage paths conducive to failure. Experience has shown that despite rigorous testing, units with delaminations may still perform adequately, while failures may be observed in units with apparent “excellent” This is because defects that happen to straddle the electrode array are more conducive to eventual degradation under voltage and temperature.

A second failure mode independent of the above reasons is degradation of the capacitance value and/or dissipation factor (DF) of the chip capacitor, when the post burn-in data does not correlate well to the original test data.

Class I non-ferroelectric dielectrics do not exhibit capacitance aging with time, temperature or voltage. Therefore, any burn-in induced capacitance change in Class I chips is associated with mechanical failure, such as cracking which isolates electrode layers.

Class II ferroelectric dielectrics, on the other hand, may display capacitance and DF variations after burn-in without mechanical failure, since these dielectrics are time-, temperature-, and voltage-dependent. Most notably, the accelerated aging of the dielectric constant under burn-in conditions must be considered (e.g., in comparison to pre burn-in data performed on de-aged units) for proper interpretation of results. Units under test may be exposed to three very different aging scenarios, depending on the method used to terminate the life test:

  • Procedure 1:The voltage is removed while the units are at temperature, and temperature is maintained with no bias for a minimum of one hour. Under this condition, total de-aging of capacitors occurs, and units will display minimal (positive or negative) capacitance change with respect to the original pre-burn-in values.
  • Procedure 2:Capacitors remain under DC bias while the oven is permitted to cool to room temperature. This in effect is a voltage conditioning process and the units will therefore age with respect to the original test data (e.g., -7.0% ΔC).
  • Procedure 3:The voltage is removed at the burn-in temperature, and the units subsequently taken from the oven and allowed to air cool to room temperature. In this case, the units do not fully age during the cooling cycle as in procedure 2, nor do they totally de-age as in procedure 1. The components thus experience a partial aging only (e.g., -3.5% ΔC).

The %ΔC values given as examples for the post burn-in data above are typical of some Mid-K Class II dielectrics. High-K less stable dielectrics may experience more radical capacitance changes, as these materials have a typical aging rate of 5% per decade hour, which is three times the average rate of X7R formulations. These considerations clearly indicate that procedure 1 only should be followed for termination of the life test for proper evaluation of performance of Class II dielectrics.

In addition to burn-in, high reliability testing often involves other performance tests per MIL-C-55681 or to customer specifications. The most common of these additional tests are dielectric withstanding voltage and IR at elevated temperature, voltage-temperature limits, thermal shock, solderability, and solder leach resistance of the chip capacitor termination. In addition, strict visual and mechanical examination of the product may be required, including Destructive Physical Analysis (DPA). The various group categories of high reliability testing applicable to MIL specifications are outlined in Table 1. Any or all of the group tests may be specified by customers requiring high reliability product.

  Table 1. High reliability test procedures

 

 

Related

Recent Posts

High Energy Density Polymer Film Capacitors via Molecular and Interfacial Design

15.10.2025
8

KYOCERA AVX Expands Stacked MLCC Capacitors Offering

14.10.2025
18

Over-Voltage Protection Clippers, Clampers, Snubbers, DC Restorers

13.10.2025
18

Silicon Capacitors Market: Shaping the Foundation for Next-Gen Miniaturization Electronics

10.10.2025
40

Enhancing Energy Density in Nanocomposite Dielectric Capacitors

9.10.2025
32

Advances in the Environmental Performance of Polymer Capacitors

8.10.2025
62

Vishay Releases DLA Tantalum Polymer Capacitors for Military and Aerospace

8.10.2025
27

Paumanok Releases Capacitor Foils Market Report 2025-2030

7.10.2025
28

Modelithics Welcomes CapV as a Sponsoring MVP

7.10.2025
4

Benefits of Tantalum Powder Stress–Strain Curve Evaluation vs Conventional Wet Test

3.10.2025
26

Upcoming Events

Oct 17
12:00 - 14:00 EDT

External Visual Inspection per MIL-STD-883 TM 2009

Oct 20
October 20 - October 23

Digital WE Days 2025 – Virtual Conference

Oct 21
October 21 @ 12:00 - October 23 @ 14:15 EDT

Space and Military Standards for Hybrids and RF Microwave Modules

View Calendar

Popular Posts

  • Buck Converter Design and Calculation

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Boost Converter Design and Calculation

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Flyback Converter Design and Calculation

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • LLC Resonant Converter Design and Calculation

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • What is a Dielectric Constant and DF of Plastic Materials?

    4 shares
    Share 4 Tweet 0
  • Ripple Current and its Effects on the Performance of Capacitors

    3 shares
    Share 3 Tweet 0
  • SEPIC Converter Design and Calculation

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Dual Active Bridge (DAB) Topology Explained

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • MLCC and Ceramic Capacitors

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Flying Capacitors Explained

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter Subscription

 

Passive Components Blog

© EPCI - Leading Passive Components Educational and Information Site

  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • EPCI Membership & Advertisement
  • About

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Knowledge Blog
  • PCNS

© EPCI - Leading Passive Components Educational and Information Site

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
Go to mobile version