Expanded and improved automotive conductive polymer chip capacitors

AVX Corporation has expanded and improved its AEC-Q200-qualified TCQ Series Automotive Conductive Polymer Chip Capacitors, found in a wide range of demanding automotive, industrial, and telecommunications applications with limited board space and severe operating environments since 2015. The series provides two new case sizes for a total of five, several new capacitance and voltage (C/V) ratings, 36 new part numbers for a total of 52, and twice the reliability specified in AEC-Q200.

The capacitors provide a compact and robust form factor that is ideal for space-constrained, harsh-environment applications including body electronics, cabin controls, comfort and infotainment systems, DC-DC converters, aftermarket automotive electronics, and coupling/decoupling. They are furnished with conductive polymer electrodes that allow a benign failure mode under recommended use conditions. Previously offered in just three miniature, low-profile case sizes — 'B' (EIA Code 1210 or EIA Metric 3528-21), 'D' (2917 or 7343-31), and 'Y' (2917 or 7343-20) — the TCQ Series now offers 'E' (2917 or 7343-43) and 'U' (2924 or 7361-43) case sizes as well, for a total of five form factors. The series has also been extended to include 36 new part numbers comprising a newly extended range of capacitance and voltage ratings. It now provides 52 unique part numbers with C/V ratings spanning 10–470μF and 2.5–50V with a ±20% capacitance tolerance, which is a notable improvement over the prior range of 10–220μF (±20%) and 4–35V with just 16 unique part numbers.

“Our newly expanded range of TCQ Series Automotive Conductive Polymer Chip Capacitors offers significantly more solutions for space-constrained, harsh-environment applications in the automotive, industrial, and telecom markets than the initial market release and has undergone extensive testing to verify that it meets or, in terms of operational lifetime, exceeds AEC-Q200 stress test qualifications,” said Allen Mayar, AVX Tantalum Capacitors product marketing manager. “TCQ Series capacitors have a conservative design with superior resistance to humidity and improved reliability, are qualified to AEC-Q200, and provide field-proven performance in a variety of demanding application areas.”

The capacitors exhibit basic reliability of 1% per 1,000 hours at 85C and rated voltage with 60% confidence. They are also 3x reflow compatible at 260C, lead-free compatible, and RoHS compliant, and are manufactured in an IATF 16949 certified facility.