No other material has driven innovation in passive electronic components more in recent years than ceramic. In this field of competence, EPCOS is permanently developing new ceramic mixtures, improving production processes and benefiting from the advantages of multilayer technology and decades of experience. The result is a product range of great variety, from simple disk varistors to piezo actuators with many hundreds of ceramic layers.
CERAMIC COMPONENTS have been playing a major role in the history of electrical engineering from the outset, first as insulators and later as dielectrics for capacitors. Intensive research into materials soon made it clear that additives and special mixtures can significantly change the electrical, thermal and mechanical properties of ceramic. This finding laid the foundation for development of the widest variety of ceramic components.
Ceramic materials can thus be doped to produce components such as thermistors, whose conductivity changes with temperature. PTC and NTC thermistors are found almost everywhere. They measure and monitor temperatures, protect equipment against overcurrent and are also used for heating. EPCOS is the world market leader in thermistors.
Varistors, i.e. voltage-dependent resistors, can also be implemented with the aid of specific ceramic mixtures and processes. They protect power supplies and data systems against overvoltage and are available in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. EPCOS is the world leader in varistors too.
The most innovative sector of ceramic components is currently multilayer technology with all its ramifications. EPCOS offers the widest variety of products here, from multilayer varistors and high-capacitance ceramic capacitors up to piezo actuators and transformers. Application of piezo actuators to fuel injection systems for diesel and gasoline engines, for example, has made fuel injection far more precise. Further potential applications include equipment in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries for even finer dosing of liquids. EPCOS is currently the only company worldwide to manufacture piezo actuators in high volumes.
Multilayer technology also forms the basis of passive integration. It combines discrete components, such as capacitors, varistors, inductors and resistors, with semiconductors or their functions in a single module. EPCOS is continuously setting new standards with its low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) modules. These innovative products save space, cut costs and shorten time to market.
The portfolio of EPCOS' Ceramic Components Division is supplemented by surge arresters that protect telecom equipment and switching spark gaps that can transmit capacitatively stored energy with low losses and have response times in the nanosecond region. Typical applications are igniters for high-pressure discharge lamps.
I N T E R V I E W
Achieving and strengthening positions of excellence
Josef Unterlass, member of the Management Board and head of the Ceramic Components Division, talks about its wide and varied product range, high innovation rates and market potential.
Why do ceramic components have one of the highest innovation rates in passives?
That can be explained first and foremost by the versatility of ceramic. The material offers above-average scope for developing new designs and functions. The vast number of combinations of known properties and proven technologies alone yields an inexhaustible reservoir of innovations. I am very glad that EPCOS spotted and seized these opportunities at an early stage.
Let's go straight to the powerhouse of your division - multilayer technology. EPCOS is a market leader in innovative multilayer products. How did it reach that position?
We started with the basic multilayer product - multilayer ceramic capacitors - and took advantage of this technology for other component functions. For example, to develop multilayer varistors, where we are now number one worldwide. Take our multilayer NTC varistors, or our piezo actuators, which have ushered in a new era in diesel engine design. Two core competences have been instrumental in this success: ceramic powder production and process engineering.
Integration is a major trend in electronics. How does EPCOS rate in highly integrated ceramic multilayer modules?
The production volumes of our LTCC modules are continuing to rise steeply. RF modules are currently used mainly in mobile phones. We can now produce complete front-end modules for them - complete with integrated power amplifiers. The EPCOS modules take up only 10% of the board space needed by discrete solutions. So we are not only giving miniaturization a significant boost, but also making our products much more reliable.
What are the next milestones on the multilayer road map?
We are currently making inroads into the automotive electronics market too with our space-saving LTCC modules. In piezo technology, we will focus on next-generation diesel fuel injection systems as well as gasoline systems. I am convinced that piezo technology will keep spreading, because piezo actuators offer significant benefits in terms of speed, power and precision of movement - conventional solutions just cannot compete. So piezo technology is indispensable to meeting new exhaust emission standards. At the same time, engines can increase output while consuming less fuel.
What's happening in multilayer ceramic capacitors and varistors?
We will be manufacturing capacitors with higher ratings in both the COG and X7R materials and in larger volumes than before. So we are moving into applications that were formerly reserved mainly for tantalum capacitors. At the same time, we are focusing on automotive applications, where we will be offering a new series of particularly rugged capacitors. We are also expanding production capacity for our HQF series, which features extremely low ESR.
Finally, in multilayer varistors we are presenting the flipchip MLV, a component for mobile electronics that operates as a filter as well as providing ESD and EMI protection. We will also be ousting more and more zener and TVS diodes with our CeraDiodes®.
What are the customer benefits?
This passive integration not only cuts systems costs, but also enhances reliability because fewer soldered joints are needed.
How do you plan to enhance customer satisfaction even further?
As well as innovative strength, quality and logistics performance are the most important success factors that set us apart from competitors. Here there is potential for improvement that we intend to tap immediately, so EPCOS has launched an ambitious, company-wide quality offensive.
How do you explain the growing importance of automotive electronics to the ceramic components business?
Basically, the electronics content of automobiles is steadily rising, so that demand for components is increasing, even if new vehicle registrations remain unchanged. As far as EPCOS is concerned, business with automotive electronics manufacturers accounts for more than 30% of the Ceramic Components Division's sales - a much larger share than any of our competitors can claim. There are two reasons for this. First, our product portfolio and our innovations meet the demands of this industry very well - our success here is based not only on piezo actuators, but also on our wide range of customer-specific sensors, thermistors and varistors. Second, most major developments and associated design-ins in automotive electronics take place in Europe, which has a positive impact on our business.
But whatever the importance of a particular industry or innovation, ceramic components are needed throughout electronics, in mobile phones, computers, domestic appliances and entertainment electronics. We are addressing all these markets with equal intensity. So all our customers benefit from our achievements in technology.
What regional shifts are taking place in the industries served?
East Asia is clearly continuing to gain in importance. We have been manufacturing in this region for more than ten years and now have three plants there - two in China and one in Malaysia. We also work with subcontractors. More and more design-ins are also taking place in East Asia, so we have built up local R&D and marketing teams to give our Asian customers prompt, direct support.
Is there anything special about East Asia with regard to the ceramic components business?
With its enormous population and commitment to technical progress, East Asia is an engine of progress for the electronics industry. In the long term, this region will overtake the rest of the world in terms of growth. So it is vital for us to get involved in this dynamic market. Our local manufacturing plants are essential to this involvement, and that is why we are ramping up production there. For some time now, our Asian locations have been more than mere manufacturing facilities and are now responsible for complete business processes, including marketing. More products are being developed there.
At the same time, this region, especially Japan, is home to major competitors. We have to stand up to them in the global market, day in, day out - and we can stand up to them! And I am very confident about the future too, because I am familiar with the competence, the dedication and the capabilities of our employees around the world. So I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all for their achievements, their creativity and their drive.
...which will primarily be expressed in a stream of ongoing developments and innovations?
Innovative strength is essential if we are to be more than just another supplier of passive electronic components in Asia. We are also scoring the highest growth rates in this region with products that local competitors cannot supply. So our motto for the future too will be to achieve and strengthen positions of excellence.
