Determining the effect of burn-in process on reliability of X7R multilayer ceramic capacitors

Base metal electrode (BME) multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) continue to advance with higher volumetric capacitance, higher voltage, and higher-temperature operational ranges with greater numbers of capacitors being manufactured and integrated into the electronic infrastructure of society. Many of these applications range from aerospace, transport, computation, medical, satellite, military, and the internet of things means the interdependence of these devices require higher reliability at a collective and individual component level. Thus, determining the lifetime reliability of MLCCs is critical to provide more reliable components, and no weak links to the electrified infrastructure. For some of the more costly systems that support military and satellite systems, the reliability testing is very extensive. The burn-in test is a screening procedure used to remove components with higher probability of infant mortality failures. In this process, components are exposed to high temperatures and voltages relative to their design. The thermal stimulated depolarization current results revealed that burn-in test caused the intragranular and transgranular migration of oxygen vacancies, which will not be relaxed after the burn-in test. Time to failure data obtained through in situ highly accelerated lifetime tests demonstrated that not only burn-in tests were ineffective at detecting infant mortality failures, but they also had a negative impact on reliability of BME MLCCs by creating a weak population. The electromigration of oxygen vacancies during burn-in tests shorten the lifetime of MLCC population by reducing the protection effects of double Schottky barriers at the grain boundaries and electrode interfaces.