[Agile Electronics Story] The 'Rice' of the Electronics Industry More Expensive Than Gold, MLCC

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee]‘Agile Electronics Stories’ is a column that keenly examines small details about electronic and mechanical products and devices. We kindly cover hot new products frequently appearing in advertisements and news, nostalgic products, puzzling products and industry terms, all from a beginner’s perspective.

MLCC in a wine glass.

Photo by Samsung Electro-Mechanics

There is an electronic component gaining attention due to the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the release of advanced home appliances, and the acceleration of autonomous and electric vehicle development.

This component is nicknamed the ‘rice of the electronics industry’ and the ‘dam of power supply.’ Known by various terms, this component is called the Multi-Layer Ceramic Condenser (MLCC) or Multi-Layer Ceramic Capacitor.

Although demand for MLCCs is increasing, manufacturing technology is challenging, and only a handful of companies worldwide can supply them. If you fill a 300ml wine glass with MLCCs, their value exceeds 300 million KRW, making them very expensive components.

Today, in ‘Agile Electronics Stories,’ we have prepared a time to look into the role, manufacturing process, and industry situation of MLCCs.

The rice of the electronics industry and the dam of power supply... MLCC, where do you come from and who are you?

Samsung Electro-Mechanics MLCC and rice

MLCCs are components that store electricity supplied from the power source and then supply a stable amount of electricity needed by semiconductors and other electronic components. They are like dams that hold water and release only as much as needed. Just as irregular water flow upstream causes damage such as drought or flooding to downstream rice paddies, fields, bridges, and roads, irregular current flow in a circuit damages other mounted components. MLCCs supply current steadily to prevent component damage, so they are installed in most products with electronic circuits, including semiconductors, TVs, smartphones, home appliances, and automobiles. They also play a role in preventing signal interference between various circuits.

Since they are mounted on electronic circuits, they are small in size. How small? MLCC product sizes vary from 0.4mm × 0.2mm, similar to the thickness of a hair at 0.3mm, up to 5.7mm × 5.0mm. They are the smallest among electronic components, smaller than a grain of rice, appearing as tiny dots to the naked eye. However, inside an MLCC, 500 to 600 layers of dielectric and electrodes are stacked. The dielectric is a material that induces electrical effects, and the electrode is a conductor through which electricity flows.

The manufacturing process of MLCC consists of 16 steps in 3 stages. First, the batching to stacking processes are conducted in a cleanroom. Dielectric powder and various materials are mixed (batching) to create a slurry state combining solids and liquids, which is uniformly coated (coating) on a film. This is called a ceramic sheet. Nickel electrodes are screen-printed on the ceramic sheet. Then, the printed sheets are stacked (stacking).

To increase the density of the stacked sheets, they are pressed (lamination), then separated into individual chips (cutting), and binder components are removed (debinding). After that, heat treatment (firing) is performed to fuse the powders into a single mass inside the chip. The fired sheets are polished to refine the surface, and electrode material is applied to form external electrodes (electrode process). Then, high-temperature heat treatment (electrode firing) is conducted, followed by plating (plating). The finished MLCCs undergo inspection for quality, defects, and cracks (measurement and visual inspection), and finally packaging (taping and shipment).

A high value-added industry requiring advanced technology... Only a few companies can supply

Samsung Electro-Mechanics MLCC Production Facility

The core technology in MLCC manufacturing is how thinly and finely the sheets can be stacked. The more layers stacked, the more electricity can be stored. To properly conduct electricity, dielectric technology using fine particles and manufacturing technology to stack layers uniformly without interference are essential. The manufacturing temperature of MLCCs is also important. MLCCs are made by alternately stacking ceramic and nickel and firing them at high temperatures above 1000℃. Since the firing temperatures of ceramic and nickel differ, it is difficult to find the optimal temperature. Even if fired at the right temperature, if fine cracks form inside the thin layers, the component will not function. Therefore, inspection is necessary to check for internal cracks even if there is no visible damage. Additionally, high-spec automotive MLCCs must withstand high temperatures above 150 degrees Celsius, low temperatures down to minus 55 degrees Celsius, humidity up to 85%, and operate stably under impact conditions such as bending strength. Microstructure design technology is required for this.

Therefore, very few companies can manufacture and supply MLCCs. Global MLCC manufacturers include South Korea’s Samsung Electro-Mechanics and Samhwa Capacitor, Japan’s Murata Manufacturing, TDK, Taiyo Yuden, and Taiwan’s Yageo and Walsin. Latecomer companies from China and others have not yet entered the high-spec MLCC market. The global MLCC market share is about 30% for Murata Manufacturing, 20% for Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and 10% for Taiyo Yuden.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics High-Capacity Ultra-Compact Multilayer Ceramic Capacitor (MLCC)

Due to the global spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), consumption and production of electronic products and automobiles have decreased, inevitably impacting the MLCC market. However, with technological advancements from the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the MLCC market is expected to steadily grow in the future. Existing smartphones typically contain about 800 to 1000 MLCCs, but the latest smartphones have more than 1200 MLCCs, similar to PCs. Also, MLCCs are necessary for the global 5G communication network. Approximately 15,000 MLCCs are used in a single 5G base station. Therefore, the total MLCC market size, which was in the early 10 trillion KRW range last year, is expected by the industry to grow to the 20 trillion KRW range by 2024.

In particular, the proportion of automotive MLCCs, which account for about 20% of the total MLCC market size, is expected to expand to 35% by 2024. This is due to the emergence of autonomous and electric vehicles. As automotive convenience functions such as Electronic Control Units (ECU) and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) improve, demand for automotive MLCCs naturally increases. Moreover, electric vehicles literally use electricity as power, so stable power supply is essential. Typically, one vehicle contains 8,000 to 13,000 MLCCs. Autonomous and electric vehicles require 15,000 to over 30,000 MLCCs. Currently, Japanese companies dominate the automotive MLCC market share. Domestic companies such as Samsung Electro-Mechanics are also striving to secure market share in automotive MLCCs by undergoing certification tests from global automakers and focusing on technology verification and raw material internalization for process optimization.