Reliability of X7R Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors During High Accelerated Life Testing (HALT)

Multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) are essential components for determining the reliability of electronic components in terms of time to failure. It is known that the reliability of MLCCs depends on their composition, processing, and operating conditions. In this present work, we analyzed the lifetime of three similar X7R type MLCCs based on BaTiO₃ by conducting High Accelerated Life Tests (HALT) at temperatures up to 200 °C at 400 V and 600 V. The results were adjusted to an Arrhenius equation, which is a function of the activation energy (E_a) and a voltage stress exponent (n), in order to predict their time to failure. The values of E_a are in the range of 1⁻1.45 eV, which has been reported for the thermal failure and dielectric wear out of BaTiO₃-based dielectric capacitors. The stress voltage exponent value was in the range of 4⁻5. Although the E_a can be associated with a failure mechanism, n only gives an indication of the effect of voltage in the tests. It was possible to associate those values with each type of tested MLCC so that their expected life could be estimated in the range of 400⁻600 V.