Capacitor quality detection diagram

What is a power capacitor design test?

When a new design of power capacitor is launched by a manufacturer, it to be tested whether the new batch of capacitor comply the standard or not. Design tests or type tests are not performed on individual capacitor rather they are performed on some randomly selected capacitors to ensure compliance of the standard.

How to identify a capacitor?

Another way to identify the positive and the negative terminals of a capacitor is the length of the two leads. The longer lead is the positive terminal, while the shorter lead is the negative terminal. How To Identify the Value of the Capacitor?

How do you test a capacitor?

Typical testing for capacitors is a voltage break-down test done on parallel test structures made on-wafer . The OEM tested the break-down of the capacitors using test structures that were not made with the same design and did not include the seams.

What are the advances in capacitor failure analysis?

Advancements in failure analysis have been made in root cause determination and stress testing methods of capacitors with extremely small (approximately 200 nm) defects. Subtrac-tive imaging has enabled a non-destructive means of locating a capacitor short site, reducing the FIB resources needed to analyze a defect.

How did the OEM test the break-down of capacitors?

The OEM tested the break-down of the capacitors using test structures that were not made with the same design and did not include the seams. Therefore, stress test boards were developed to test a total of 192 undamaged devices in parallel.

How can you tell if a capacitor is failing?

There were no visual deformities seen under standard microscopy on the capacitor’s top metal. Most subtle failures in a capacitor are those in the dielectric which are difficult to find under standard spectroscopy . To determine the location of the short, a current of 50 mA was forced through the failed capacitor.