Date of Award
5-2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Legacy Department
Electrical Engineering
Committee Member
Dr. William R. Harrell, Committee Chair
Committee Member
Dr. Yuri Freeman
Committee Member
Dr. Goutam Koley
Abstract
Polymer Hermetic Sealed (PHS) capacitors are advanced polymer capacitors with a hermetic seal enclosing the materials inside a metal enclosure. Their primary features include leakage current stability, high volumetric efficiency, and low weight compared to both wet and solid-state polymer tantalum capacitors. However, Life Tests performed on these capacitors have revealed a failure to withstand their rated voltage in a working temperature range over the long-term. There are also other interesting properties which have been observed such as Breakdown voltage (BDV) exceeding the Formation Voltage (Vf), anomalous transient currents, and a larger than expected capacitance dependence on temperature, C(T). A primary goal in this research is to understand whether the observed characteristics of PHS capacitors are a result of their complex structure or due more to the nature of interactions between the organic and inorganic material layers present. C(T) and BDV measurements were performed on thin-film MIS capacitors representing the material layers of PHS capacitors. Measurements were performed in the voltage range (0V-100V), a temperature range (-550C to 1250C), with varying frequency (20-10kHz), under both humid and dry conditions. Furthermore, one sample went through a curing process referred to as "Heat Treatment", which is thought to improve device stability. Results from these measurements show that thin-film devices can be reasonable representatives of discrete PHS capacitors, and the properties observed in PHS capacitors are significantly dependent on the material layers in the capacitors. Thus, the thin-film MIS capacitor is shown to be a useful test structures for investigating physical phenomena observed in the more complex polymer Ta capacitor structure.
Recommended Citation
Chinnam, Shiva Kumar, "Characterization of Polymer Hermetic Sealed Tantalum Capacitors Using Thin-film Devices" (2017). All Theses. 2610.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/2610