James,

>Will someone please save me some time?  Are multilayer ceramic chip
>capacitors made from multiple layers of "green tape" and cofired, or are
>they printed onto individual ceramic substrates and then assembled somehow?

It is some years since I visitied a capacitor factory, but I have seen both
processes in use. Details are a bit hazy, but as far as I can recall the green
tape was extruded (from slurry) onto a carrier film, dried and then printed
with
the electrode pattern. Carrier film then removed and the layers laminated. I
think dicing then happened before sintering. The printing process used a rigid
carrier and a series of printing machines in a loop to build up layers of
dielectric
and terminations. Dielectric layers used multiple prints on different machines
to reduce defects due to e.g. blocked holes on screens. Once dried they are
diced and released from carrier before sintering. Final step was to dip the
ends
in conductive ink which is then fired.

No idea which process is most prevalent these days, but I would guess printing.
It would be interesting to see how the manufacturers handle todays much smaller
parts.

David Whalley

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