We’ve all had quite a ride for the last two years, no matter at what point you got on the roller coaster. Still, the increasing adoption of digitalization coupled with greater-than-ever connectivity continues, which, in turn, is accelerating demand for passive components. Among the specific sectors that are driving demand are 5G smartphones, electric vehicles (EV) and renewable energy generation systems.
If, as predicted, part availability eases in the medium and longer term, this would be the perfect time to introduce new products. In fact, that’s what most of the major players appear to be doing. Here are some examples:
At the Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC) 2022, March 20-24 in Houston, Texas, Vishay planned to highlight a wide variety of capacitors, resistors and inductors. Featured capacitors will include ruggedized, electrical, double-layer energy storage devices for energy harvesting and power line backup applications; AEC-Q200 qualified film capacitors to address the growing electric vehicle market; and power capacitors that provide high reliability for energy-generation applications in traction and industrial drives, solar and wind energy systems.
Featured resistors will include Power Metal Strip’s thick film power, precision thin film, high power back-contact resistor (IGBR) series and metal electrode leadless face (MELF) devices, in addition to a ThermaWick thermal jumper, surface-mount chip designed to provide an electrically isolated thermal conductive pathway to a ground plane or heat sink while maintaining the electrical isolation of the device. Also on display will be wirewound resistors, including fusible safety, direct water cooled and hybrid devices for pre-charge and discharge applications. Non-linear resistors will include NTC thermistors featuring easy mounting using ring tongue terminal and insulated leads, wire bondable NTC die, inrush current limiting PTCs and nickel thin film thermistors.
Inductors will consist of automotive grade and commercial low profile, high current inductors in a range of case sizes, high temperature devices and commercial vertical-mount inductors.
Yageo Group has launched new automotive anti-sulfur and anti-surge (AS eries) resistors which are adopted for high-power, high-pulse requirements under harsh environments.
Examples are industrial control systems, converters, inverters, power supplies, printers, chargers/charging equipment, communication base stations and equipment used in high concentrations of sulfur gas areas, such as hot springs and mining areas.
In the automotive application field, uses include power transmission, engine control units, infotainment systems, chassis, driving information modules, lighting systems and electric vehicle charging modules.
Compared to Yageo’s thick film anti-sulfur resistor AF series, the AS series keeps the anti-sulfur features while adding the anti-surge capability and high reliability to manage the harsh environment demand. The anti-surge design withstands high pulses in the circuit and provides additional triple and quadruple power specifications to operate in high-power environments. In mass production, the AS series resistors are now available for the size range 0603/0805/1206.
With Yageo’s AS series, the sulfur issues are solved by using dielectric material in the inner electrode with the alteration of the resistor structure. This setup not only improves the anti-sulfuration capabilities but also saves costs.
Kyocera has expanded its TWA-Y Series high-temperature, COTS-Plus wet electrolytic tantalum capacitors with the addition of a new 470µF/125V product proven to 200 degrees C at 125V life-testing procedures.
Currently available in a DLA T4-size case, the TWA-Y Series capacitor offers the world’s highest CV/cc and is designed to withstand continuous operation at 200 degrees C for up to 2,000 hours with applicable derating. It also features a leaded, cylindrical and hermetically sealed construction proven to ruggedly withstand shock and vibration and is a good drop-in replacement for existing M39006-style wet tantalum capacitors used for input and output filtering and energy storage and discharge in high-temperature industrial and downhole oil-drilling applications.
In other developments, Kyocera AVX has reached agreement with ROHM Semiconductor to transfer all of its tantalum and polymer capacitor manufacturing lines and relevant intellectual property to Kyocera AVX effective August 5, 2022.
Kyocera AVX exhibited at the 2022 Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC) earlier this month in San Diego, California. The Kyocera AVX exhibition showcased highlights from the company's portfolio of passive component solutions, well-suited for RF and optical networking and communications applications.
Highlights included ultra-broadband capacitors for DC blocking, coupling, bypassing and feedback applications; ultra-broadband resistors for optical transceiver modules; ultraminiature RF/microwave inductors in Multilayer Organic (MLO), thin film, air core, wire-wound ceramic and multilayer ceramic technologies; and standard and custom single-layer ceramic capacitors available with and without borders, as well as with double-sided borders and dielectric constants ranging from 14 (NP0) to greater than 30,000 (X7R).
The new UBC 550 Series ultra-broadband capacitors deliver performance from 16KHz to 70+GHz in ultra-broadband microwave and millimeter-wave RF applications with stringent operating requirements. They exhibit ultra-low insertion loss, excellent return loss, flat frequency response, high unit-to-unit repeatability and — unlike competing two-piece solutions — a rugged and compact single-piece, surface-mount, multilayer ceramic construction made of RoHS-compliant materials.
UBC 550 Series inductors are suited for use in DC blocking, coupling, bypassing and feedback applications within optoelectronics, high-speed data networks, transimpedance amplifiers, broadband test equipment, synchronous optical networks (SONET), transmit and receive optical subassemblies (TOSA and ROSA) and other ultra-broadband microwave and millimeter-wave RF applications.
The new LCCI Series ultraminiature multilayer ceramic chip inductors deliver reliability and performance from 100MHz to 2.4GHz in telecommunications and networking applications, including mobile communications and computer networking systems, wireless large-area networks (WLAN), radio-frequency identification (RFID) systems, personal handheld systems (PHS) ranging from smartphones and tablets to media players and gaming devices and EMI countermeasures in high-frequency circuits.
They exhibit high Q, high signal efficiencies, low DC resistance (DCR), tight inductance tolerances down to approximately 0.1nH and guaranteed self-resonant frequencies (SRF) up to 10GHz and are currently available in 0201, 0402 and 0603 case sizes with physical tolerance dimensions in the submillimeter range and tin-plated surface-mount terminations to ensure proper function.
Panasonic Corporation has released the KX Series SP-Cap conductive polymer aluminum electrolytic capacitors with endurance lifetime of 5,500 hours at 125 C, 1.8 times the lifetime of the JX series SP-Cap and said to be the industry’s longest. This new series of capacitors is suitable for use in power circuits for servers and communication base stations, etc. that require capacitors with a higher durability for high-speed communications. Mass production of the new capacitors will start in April 2022.
Panasonic has also expanded its JX series SP-Cap product lineup with low-ESR products and an added range of rated voltages. Furthermore, both the KX and JX series of SP-Cap guarantee long endurance even under high temperature and high humidity conditions – 1,000 hours at 85 C/85 percent.
The newly developed capacitors, with an effective capacitance equivalent to that of MLCCs, enable a reduction in the number of required capacitors. Replacing multiple MLCCs with an SP-Cap capacitor will reduce mounting areas and enable the miniaturization of equipment, thereby lowering environmental impact through the reduction of materials used.
Bourns Magnetics has launched the new automotive AEC-Q200 compliant model SRN3030HA, SRN4030HA and SRN5030HA series high temperature semi-shielded power inductors.
Constructed with a magnetic-silica coating to the perimeter of the inductor winding to provide effective shielding, these inductors release lower magnetic field radiation compared to non-shielded inductors. These new semi-shielded inductors also are said to be lower priced than typical comparably-sized, conventional ferrite-shielded inductors.
The Model SRN3030HA, SRN4030HA and SRN5030HA Series feature high temperature and have been designed to meet a broad operating temperature range from -55 to 150 C. These inductors are well suited for DC-DC converters and power supplies in consumer, industrial and telecom applications where enhanced inductor reliability may be required.
Rheinmetall and PolyCharge America announced the formation of Rheinmetall PolyCharge, GmbH, a joint venture for the production, development and marketing of NanoLam DC-Link capacitors in Europe.
This venture is responsible for the commercialization of all NanoLam products within Europe and is in the planning stages to build a NanoLam plant within the region.
Rheinmetall's decision to enter the capacitor market was driven by the growing demand for DC-link capacitors for automotive inverters. In a report, "Rheinmetall is positioning itself to meet the increasing demand for these components," Rene Gansauge, CEO of Rheinmetall's Sensors and Actuators Division, said.
He continued, "PolyCharge's NanoLam products are significantly smaller, lighter and able to operate at higher temperatures – a real quantum leap compared to the current state of the art."
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