Microelectronics Reliability 46 (2006) 1926–1931

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Defect Detection in Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors

V. Kriegera,c, W. Wondraka, A. Dehbia, W. Bartela, Y. Oustenb, B. Levrierb
a
DaimlerChrysler AG, Research and Technology, Hanns Klemm Str. 45, 71034 Böblingen, Germany
b
IXL, Université Bordeaux, 351 cours de la Liberation, 33405 Talence Cedex, France
c
Université Montpellier II, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex, France

Abstract

Cracks in Multilayer Capacitors are often latent defects, which are not recognized in production, but can
cause substantial problems in field. Therefore it is important to find possibilities to detect those candidates
before delivering electronic equipment.
In this work, cracked capacitors were characterized by electrical parameter testing and by piezoelectric
spectroscopy. As a new method, sound emission spectroscopy was employed as indicator for latent defects and
correlated with electrical data and physical analysis. The results show that sound emission used on a statistical
basis and piezoelectric response might be effective to screen latent defects in electronic control units.

1. Introduction cracking. This was monitored by measuring the

Cracks in Multilayer Capacitors are often latent
defects, which are not recognized in production, but
can cause substantial problems in field.
Ceramic capacitors can crack due to excessive
mechanical stresses during fabrication or handling of
electronic equipment. Usually a crack does not lead
directly to failing of the electronics, but after some
time operating in humid environment or under voltage,
metal migration can occur along the crack causing a
short and thus disturb functionality.
Therefore it is important to find possibilities to
detect those candidates before delivering electronic
equipment. Non-destructive real-time testing of MLCC
must be rapid, low cost and efficient, especially
regarding defect size sensibility and location ability.
Different methods like X-ray radiography, scanning
acoustic microscopy, partial discharge, and
spectroscopy impedance can be used, and are often
complementary [1].
In this work, commercial multilayer ceramic
capacitors (MLCC) were bended similar to the
automotive standard AEC Q200 in order to provoke
capacitance during bending.
The cracked capacitors were characterized by
electrical parameter testing, by piezoelectric
spectroscopy, and by sound emission spectroscopy.
The results are shown in the following paragraphs.
2. Mechanical cracking of ceramic capacitors
2.1 Construction
The construction of a typical MLCC in surface
mount technology is shown in Fig. 1. It consists of
many layers of ceramic dielectric material and metal
electrodes, which are sintered together. Electrical
contact is provided by metal terminations.
Since the ceramics is very brittle, these capacitors
are susceptible against mechanical stress. Stresses
induced by improper handling, temperature shocks or
by bending the circuit board can lead to cracking.

0026-2714/$ - see front matter Ó 2006 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

doi:10.1016/j.microrel.2006.07.082
 V. Krieger et al. / Microelectronics Reliability 46 (2006) 1926–1931 1927

Fig.3 Layout of the test boards

Fig.1 Construction of a MLCC [2]

2.2 Crack appearance

A typical bending crack can be seen in Fig.2. It

starts at the end of the termination and propagates
under an angle of about 45°, thereby cutting the inner
metal electrodes. A crack will lead to a loss of
capacitance, when the metal electrodes loose their
electrical contact. Incoming water or metal migration
under applied voltage may also lead to a short.
As long as the contact is still provided, the
electrical parameters may be almost unchanged.
Fig.2 Cross section of a cracked MLCC
3. Sample preparation by bending
Fig.4 Bending procedure
displacement of the board and the capacitance of the
device have been recorded. A capacitance change of
+/- 10% was used as a failure criterion. A typical
diagram is depicted in Fig. 5. The capacitance shows a
rapid drop at 12 mm. Note, that the data sheet of the
devices specifies only 1 mm bending. Most devices are
much more robust, no crack has been observed below 2
mm.
For the following investigations, the maximum
deflection was limited to 10 mm. Bending was
repeated until a crack could be detected.
The samples were investigated by acoustic
spectroscopy, impedance spectroscopy, and
piezoelectric spectroscopy followed by cross section
analysis.

In order to crack capacitors, we used the method 25 18

called “flex," “bend,” or “warp”-test following the
20
capacitance (nF)

EIA-J RC 3402 standard, which was developed to

deflection (mm)

detect a susceptibility to bending. 12

15
Commercial MLCCs of size 0805 (22nF, 50 V)
were soldered with lead-free solder SnAg3Cu06 onto 10
FR4 test boards having 4 electrical contacts to enable 6
electrical measurements (Fig. 3). The maximum 5
temperature during reflow was 250°C.
The boards were mounted in a Zwick Roell 0 0
0 6 12 18 24
material test machine. They were supported by 2 rods
time (s)
while a ram was moving with a speed of 1 mm/s into
the backside up to a displacement of 10 mm (Fig. 4). Fig.5 Capacitance change during bending of a MLCC
The
1928 V. Krieger et al. / Microelectronics Reliability 46 (2006) 1926–1931

4. Acoustic spectroscopy

4.1 Set-up

For acoustic spectroscopy, a rectangular signal was

applied to the capacitor, which emits a sound signal.
This signal was detected by an electret microphone, a) b)
amplified and stored in an oscilloscope (Fig. 6).
Fourier transformation of the signal gave the sound
spectrum which was analysed.

Rectangular
signal 10V X100
2kHz –
20kHz c)
Electret oscilloscope
microphone
capacitor Fig.9 Cross sections of cracked capacitors belonging to
a) Fig. 8, b) Fig. 10, c) Fig. 11
Fig.6 Basic set-up for sound spectroscopy

4.2 Results and discussion Cracked devices which were completely damaged
and lost their capacitance show totally different
Typical results of sound spectra are described signature. Only some signals at low frequencies can be
below. Fig. 7 shows the sound spectrum of a new detected (Fig. 8).Partially cracked devices cause
capacitor. Several characteristic peaks can be observed. reduced amplitudes (Fig. 9), and devices, where the
crack propagates through the solder joint and the
peripheric region lead to signals very similar to the
0,030
intact parts (Fig. 10)
0,025
0,030
Amplitude

0,020
0,025
0,015
Amplitude

0,020
0,010
0,015
0,005
0,010
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 0,005
Frequency (kHz) 0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Fig.7 Sound Spectrum of a new capacitor
Frequency (kHz)
Fig. 10 Sound spectrum of capacitor from Fig. 9b
0,030

0,025 0,030
Amplitude

0,020 0,025
Amplitude

0,015 0,020

0,015
0,010
0,010
0,005
0,005
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 0
Frequency (kHz) 0 5 10 15 20 25
Frequency (kHz)
Fig.8 Sound Spectrum of a cracked capacitor
Fig. 12 Sound spectrum of capacitor from Fig. 9c
 V. Krieger et al. / Microelectronics Reliability 46 (2006) 1926–1931 1929

0,030 As forecasted by the corresponding impedance

0,025 calculation, experimental response of a defect free type
II capacitor under a sufficient biasing voltage, shows
Amplitude
0,020 three resonance peaks (Fig. 15). Generally, the highest
0,015 peak is linked to the width resonance for a polarization
applied along the x-axis (length).
0,010

0,005

0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Frequency (kHz)

Fig. 13 Spectra of defect free capacitors

Acoustic spectra from different capacitors show
substantial variances (Fig. 13). Therefore, acoustic
spectroscopy reveals features which can be correlated
with cracks, but it is not possible to tell unambiguously
from a single spectrum whether a device may hide a Fig. 14 Equivalent electrical circuit of the capacitor near
defect. Further statistical evaluation or fuzzy logics the resonance frequency.
may improve this situation.

5. Piezoelectric spectroscopy
20
18 Type II SMT
5.1 Measurement Principle 16 C=15 nF
Vbias=63
Impedance (Ohm)

14
Residual piezoelectricity exists in most of the 12 Volts
materials (based on Barium Titanate) used for 10
8 Width
multilayer ceramic chip capacitors.
6
Under D.C. bias, the ceramic material can be 4
Thickness
temporarily polarized, giving rise to inverse 2
Length
piezoelectric effect and generating volume elastic 0
400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 2800 3200
waves. In these conditions, the component is
Frequency (KHz)
characterized by a resonance frequency for each
natural vibration mode. It is possible to represent the Fig. 15 Experimental piezoelectric response.
ceramic impedance of a MLCC vibrating near the
resonance frequency by an equivalent circuit (Fig. 14):
where C0 represents the capacitance of the capacitor, In order to study the selectivity and sensitivity of
and R0 is directly linked to dielectric losses. The the piezoelectric response with respect to the nature
equivalent inductance L is related to the ceramic mass, and size of the defects, measurements on capacitors
while C is associated to the compliance tensor and R to containing different type of defects, such as cracks,
the mechanical losses in the ceramic. Two delaminations, cavities and termination damages were
characteristic pulsations can be derived from this performed and compared to SEM and SAM
circuit, and correspond to resonance and anti- observations in literature [3].
resonance frequencies:
5.2 Impedance Analysis

In order to determine an accurate view of the lot,

we choose three methods to analyse the electric
parameters of the MLCC. Impedance spectroscopy is
used by two steps; a classical spectroscopy is done
from 10Hz to 10 MHz to observe the behaviour of the
1930 V. Krieger et al. / Microelectronics Reliability 46 (2006) 1926–1931

24

22

20

Vy / Vx
18

16
14

12
10
1.0 1.4 1.8 2.2 2.6 3.0
Frequency (MHz)
Fig. 16. Modulus of the impedance of the MLCC lot.
Fig. 17 Piezoelectric response of the new capacitor #388

modulus of the impedance versus the frequency. The 8

second step is the piezoelectric analysis; the analysis
7
allows us to test the resonance properties of the
6
ceramic. Any observation of a distorted piezoelectric

response peak is the sign of a defect. The final analysis
is a leakage current monitoring. Theses three analyses
are correlated and compared.
Eight mounted MLCC on PCB (#382 to 389) were
investigated with our HP 4192 impedance analyser.
Two of the components (388 and 389) have not been
submitted to the bending test as reference samples, see
Fig. 16.
The unstressed components (388 and 389) present
the classic curve of a good capacitor. The slope (in a
log-log graph) is linear; the components are capacitive
from 10 Hz to 10 MHz. The components 382 and 386
are different: they are mainly resistive from 10 Hz to 1
KHz, the value is low. From 1 kHz to 10 MHz a
capacitive response is present but the value of the
capacitance is close to 5 nF. The components 383, 384,
385 and 387 have a strong resistive behaviour at low
frequency. They are close to a open circuit. They had a
capacitive behaviour only above 10 kHz. The inner
structure of the interdigited electrodes is probably
damaged: delaminations may be present. The electric
model can be described as a low capacitance (1 to 5
nF) with a high resistance (GΩ) in series.
5.3 Piezoelectric analysis
Piezoelectric analysis was performed with a bench
consisting of a signal generator, oscilloscope for the
acquisition, and a high voltage interface. For soldered
components higher voltage (100 Volts) is required
because the value of the electric field between the
interdigitated electrodes must be higher to induce
piezoelectric response.
Vy / Vx
5
4
3
2
1
0
1.0 1.4 1.8 2.2 2.6
Frequency (MHz)
Fig. 18 Piezoelectric response of cracked capacitor #384
The unstressed components show a relatively weak
piezoelectric response peak because the resonance is
dissipated through the solder junction to the PCB
(Fig. 17). The components 383, 384, 385, and 387 have
no piezoelectric signal; their structure is damaged and
stopped any piezoelectric response (Fig. 18).
In total, six MLCC have failed the piezoelectric
analysis, their mechanical strength was weakened by
the bending. Two components (#382 and 386), which
showed a low impedance value at low frequencies
could not be biased during the analysis.
For comparison, leakage current measurements
were performed by monitoring the loading current of
the capacitor after 60 seconds.
The results are summarized in Fig. 19. For the two
components 382 and 386 the insulating resistance
dropped substantially.
The magnitude of the current of the other
components is dispersive and close to the values of the
undamaged parts.
Destructive physical analysis is shown in Figs. 20
 V. Krieger et al. / Microelectronics Reliability 46 (2006) 1926–1931 1931

and 21. show that this method used on a statistical basis might
be applicable to screen latent defects in electronic
1,00E-03
control units.
1,00E-04
Piezoelectric spectroscopy seems to be most sensitive,
1,00E-05
but it needs special equipment and uses high voltages.
1,00E-06
Thus application in electronic circuits will be limited.
1,00E-07
1,00E-08
1,00E-09
7. Conclusions
1,00E-10
1,00E-11
Cracks in Multilayer Capacitors are often latent
1,00E-12
defects, it is important to find methods allowing
382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389
identification of damaged parts before they come to
use. Piezoelectric response is effective to detect latent
Fig. 19 Leakage currents of the investigated capacitors defects in MLCCs, whereas acoustic spectroscopy
gives ambiguous data needing statistical interpretation.
The goal to identify latent defects in electronic
equipment by a fast and easy method is still a
challenge.

References

[1] Y. Ousten, S. Mejdi, A. Fenech, J.Y. Deletage, L.

Bechou, M.G. Perichaud, Y. Danto
Fig. 20 Cross section of intact capacitor #389 The use of impedance spectroscopy, SEM and SAM
imaging for early detection of failure in SMT assemblies
Microelectronics Reliability 38 (1998) 1519-1545
[2] M. Pechloff
www.epcos.com (2006)
[3] Y. OUSTEN, B. LEVRIER, F. VERDIER
Reliability analysis of ceramic capacitors under 200°C
CARTS 2004 Nice (France)

Fig. 21 Cross section of leaky capacitor # 382

A major crack in the leaky capacitor #382 is obvious

from Fig. 21. It cuts all metal electrodes and causes a
resistive current path.

7. Summary

Cracked capacitors were characterized by electrical

parameter testing, by acoustic spectroscopy, by
impedance analysis, and by piezoelectric spectroscopy.
Each method has different strengths to detect defects in
the devices.
As a new method, sound emission spectroscopy was
employed as indicator for latent defects and correlated
with electrical data and physical analysis. The results