Date: 10/04/2011

Commercialized ceramic capacitors from Murata for automotive

Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. has announced it has successfully commercialized the DE6 series type KJ ceramic capacitors designed for automotive uses and certified under the safety standards.

While meeting the criteria for both the performance that is required by the safety standards and the performance that supports vehicle-mounted applications, the new ceramic capacitors are ideally suited for use in the AC line filters of the vehicle-mounted chargers found in PHEVs and EVs-vehicles that are expected to be recharged using the commercial power supplies (100 to 240V voltage and 50 or 60 Hz power line frequency) available both in Japan and abroad.

As environmental consciousness continues to grow and ecological cars keep spreading at an increasing pace, the practical usage and utilization of PHEV and EVs are being promoted mainly by government agencies and the power companies as a mainstay of the green industry.

Since PHEVs and EVs are recharged directly from external power supplies, it is possible that the capacitors that are connected directly to the primary circuits of the vehicle-mounted chargers will be subjected to high-voltage surges from the external power supplies. This is the reason why capacitors that are certified as conforming to the safety standards and that are capable of withstanding these surges are required. As components mounted in automobiles, they are also required to feature the kind of high-level reliability which is guaranteed for 1,000 temperature cycles, for instance.

Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. said it is the first manufacturer in the industry to have successfully commercialized ceramic capacitors that are destined for automotive uses and certified under the safety standards. It achieved this by using ceramic devices with the same high withstand voltage performance as existing components certified under the safety standard, and by coating them with a new resin material for insulation purposes in order to improve the temperature resistance cycle performance.