Mechanism of capacitance aging under DC-bias field in X7R-MLCCs

Capacitance aging under DC electric fields has been studied on multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) with the X7R characteristics. The capacitance change with time was divided into two stages, the first- and the second-stage. The first-stage was due to the nonlinear permittivity of dielectrics and it should not be involved in the aging phenomenon. The second-stage depended on the MnO content, grain size and firing condition of dielectrics. From the behavior of the second-stage, it was concluded that the capacitance aging was caused by the 90-degree domain switching in BaTiO₃ in the core. The first-stage was due to the nonlinear permittivity but the domain switching was also included in the first-stage if the domain walls moved by the first application of DC field. The change in the aging behavior with the intensity of DC field could be explained by separating capacitance change into the nonlinear permittivity and the domain switching according to the mechanism proposed in this study.