ABSTRACT
Over 60 billion ceramic capacitors are used worldwide each year. About half are single-layer "disc"-style capacitors. Most of the rest are multilayer devices. Multilayer ceramic capacitors were originally developed in the United States. In recent years, however, the predominant manufacturers, at least of disc capacitors, have been Japanese. Ceramic capacitors have become the dominant capacitor type because they are small and reliable and can be manufactured cost effectively by highly mechanized processes. The monolithic structure of a multilayer ceramic capacitor requires that both the buried electrodes as well as the ceramic dielectric be compatible with one another and with the manufacturing process. The electrode material in a multilayer ceramic capacitor must yield a conductive film that is continuous after firing and does not diffuse into or react with the ceramic dielectric. The development of ceramic capacitors in the late 1930s was to replace natural mica in capacitors by using a synthetic dielectric.
