Multilayer Broadband Ceramic Capacitor with Internal Air Gap Capacitance

A capacitor comprising:

• a substantially monolithic dielectric body;
• a plurality of conductive first layers disposed within the dielectric body and electrically connected to a first conductive contact on the dielectric body;
• a plurality of conductive second layers disposed within the dielectric body and electrically connected to a second conductive contact on the dielectric body, the plurality of second layers interleaved with the plurality of first layers to form capacitances between the layers;
• at least one set of conductive plates separated by a void, the void wholly enclosed by the dielectric body and bordered by at least a portion of a dielectric layer and adjacent edges of first and second conductive plates, the first and second conductive plates being spaced apart to form a nonconductive capacitive connection through the void.

A method of making a monolithic ceramic capacitor containing at least one air gap capacitance, the method comprising:

• providing a plurality of layers of a dielectric ceramic;
• providing a plurality of conductive layers;
• stacking the conductive and dielectric layers in an interleaving fashion;
• sintering the interleaved layers to form a monolithic ceramic body;
• forming a void in the monolithic ceramic body, the void being bounded by at least a portion of a dielectric layer and portions of a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer;
• and
• spacing the first and second conductive layers apart relative to the void to form a nonconductive capacitive connection between the layers.