High Capacitance Tunable Multilayer Capacitor and Array
AssigneeAVX Corporation
InventorsCraig W. Nies, Andrew P. Ritter, Richard C. VanAlstine
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Abstract
A tunable multilayer capacitor array is provided. The tunable multilayer capacitor includes a plurality of tunable multilayer capacitors that are connected in parallel. The tunable multilayer capacitor has an initial capacitance value greater than about 0.1 microFarads at an operating voltage greater than about 10 volts. The tunable multilayer capacitor is configured to have a tunable capacitance by applying a DC bias voltage to the tunable multilayer capacitor array.
Claims39
A tunable multilayer capacitor array comprising a plurality of tunable multilayer capacitors that are connected in parallel, and wherein the tunable multilayer capacitor array has an initial capacitance value greater than about 0.1 microFarads at an operating voltage greater than about 10 volts, and wherein the tunable multilayer capacitor is configured to have a tunable capacitance by applying a DC bias voltage to the tunable multilayer capacitor array.
A tunable multilayer capacitor comprising:
- a first active electrode in electrical contact with a first active termination;
- a second active electrode in electrical contact with a second active termination;
- a first DC bias electrode in electrical contact with a first DC bias termination;
- a second DC bias electrode in electrical contact with a second DC bias termination;
- and
- a plurality of dielectric layers disposed between the first and second active electrodes and between the first and second bias electrodes, wherein at least a portion of the dielectric layers contain a tunable dielectric material that exhibits a variable dielectric constant upon the application of an applied DC voltage across the first and second DC bias electrodes,
- and wherein the tunable multilayer capacitor has an initial capacitance greater than about 0.1 microFarads at an operating voltage greater than about 10 volts.
A partially tunable multilayer capacitor array comprising:
- a tunable multilayer capacitor that is configured to have a tunable capacitance by applying a DC bias voltage to the partially tunable multilayer capacitor array;
- and
- a non-tunable multilayer capacitor that is connected in parallel with the tunable multilayer capacitor, the non-tunable multilayer capacitor having a capacitance value that is not tunable upon the application of the DC bias voltage to the partially tunable multilayer capacitor array.
A partially tunable multilayer capacitor comprising:
- a first active electrode in electrical contact with a first active termination;
- a second active electrode in electrical contact with a second active termination;
- a first DC bias electrode in electrical contact with a first DC bias termination;
- a second DC bias electrode in electrical contact with a second DC bias termination;
- a plurality of dielectric layers disposed between the first and second active electrodes and between the first and second bias electrodes, wherein at least a portion of the dielectric layers contain a tunable dielectric material that exhibits a variable dielectric constant upon the application of an applied DC voltage across the first and second DC bias electrodes, and wherein a non-tunable portion of the plurality of dielectric layers does not exhibit a variable capacitance upon application of the applied DC voltage across the first and second DC bias electrodes.
A tunable multilayer capacitor array comprising a plurality of tunable multilayer capacitors that are connected in parallel, and wherein the tunable multilayer capacitor array has a horizontal stack configuration wherein thicknesses of each of plurality of the tunable multilayer capacitors extends in a lengthwise direction of the tunable multilayer capacitor array, and wherein the tunable multilayer capacitor is configured to have a tunable capacitance by applying a DC bias voltage to the tunable multilayer capacitor array.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.