Failure modes of tantalum capacitors made by different technologies

Generally, tantalum capacitor failure modes have been discussed both for the standard manganese dioxide cathode and the new conductive polymer (CP) type. For standard tantalum in the normal operation mode, an electrical breakdown can be stimulated by an increase of the electrical conductance in channel by an electrical pulse or voltage level. This leads to capacitor destruction followed by thermal breakdown. In the reverse mode, we have reported that thermal breakdown is initiated by an increase of the electrical conductance by Joule heating at a relatively low voltage level. Consequently, a feedback cycle consisting of temperature - conductivity - current - Joule heat temperature, ending with electrical breakdown was created. Both of these breakdown modes possess a stochastic behavior and can be hardly localized in advance. Conductive polymer capacitors have shown a slightly different current conductivity mechanism compared to standard tantalum capacitors. The breakdown of CP dielect...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2002
• Where: MR
• Authors: Petr Vasina, T. Zednicek, Josef Sikula, Jan Pavelka
• Keywords: Capacitors, Electrical, Electrical Conductance, MR 2002, Robotics