KEMET intros true fail open tantalum capacitor

USA: KEMET Corp., a leading manufacturer of tantalum, ceramic, aluminum, film, paper and electrolytic capacitors, introduced its new T496 Hi-Rel Fused Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) MnO2 Series of tantalum surface mount capacitors.

These devices are ideal for use in high reliability applications where a capacitor failing short will disrupt the overall performance of the system. The internal fuse in the capacitor results in a fail open condition.

“KEMET’s T496 COTS Series offers our customers a true fail open tantalum capacitor,” stated Dr. Philip Lessner, KEMET’s senior VP, CTO and chief scientist. “Fuse actuation makes it possible for this failure mode to eliminate any concerns with parts failing short by ensuring that the capacitor is isolated from the circuit, thereby increasing overall reliability.”

The T496 Hi-Rel Fused COTS MnO2 Series is available in DLA (DSCC) Drawing 04053 and can be ordered with a variety of options including surge current testing, Weibull Grading, termination options, and various ESR levels. A customizable testing and screening protocol is available upon customer request.

Typical applications include decoupling and filtering in computing, telecommunication, defense, and industrial end applications requiring a built-in fuse capability. This includes filtering for point of load and switch mode power supplies.

Typical markets include defense and aerospace, computer, industrial, lighting, and telecommunications. These devices range in price from $0.50 and higher, and complement KEMET’s T493, T497, T513, T540, T541, and T543 series of COTS capacitors.

KEMET’s T496 Hi-Rel Fused COTS MnO2 Series is designed to operate in high-current applications and includes a fusing mechanism. The built-in fuse element provides excellent protection from damaging short circuit conditions in applications where high fault currents exist. This type of fuse is ideal for high-current applications where no external series resistance is used. This solution will impact the failure mode process, replacing a short circuit situation (with high risk of circuit damage) with an open circuit.

Such a capacitor will prevent any circuit interruption due to the capacitor failure mode. Fuse activation will occur (at room temperature 25˚C) within 1 second at fault currents of 4 amps and higher. As the fusing process is initiated, a post actuation resistance of greater than10 MΩ is assured (at 25˚C).