Defects of Base Metal Electrode Layers in Multi-Layer Ceramic Capacitor

An ultra-thin Ni-based metal used as the electrode layer in multilayer ceramic capacitor determines the dielectric performance of the capacitor. The warpage and the continuity of the inner electrode layers, and a dihedral angle between BaTiO3 layers and metal electrodes of two ceramic capacitors (X7R and X5R) were characterized by optical microscopy and scanning/transmission electron microscopes. The results show that the warpage of the chips is closely related to the discontinuity of the inner electrode. The discontinuity takes place mainly because of Rayleigh instability of the Ni layer, but is less induced by the tensile stress from sintering.