Evaluation of Residual Stress in a Multilayer Ceramic Capacitor and its Effect on Dielectric Behaviors Under Applied dc Bias Field

The residual stress in a multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) has been evaluated by two‐dimensional finite element simulation in combination with X‐ray diffraction measurement. It is shown that there is a compressive in‐plane stress in the active layers of the MLCC, which increases with increases in the number of dielectric layers when both dielectric layer thickness and electrode thickness are kept constant. A good order of magnitude agreement between the residual stresses obtained from two approaches is found. The ɛ– V response of the MLCC with different number of dielectric layers demonstrates that under a given or no applied field, the dielectric permittivity increases with increasing compressive stress. Additionally, under dc bias field, the higher the compressive in‐plane stress existing in the MLCC, the more significant the decrease of the dielectric permittivity. These results can be explained through a phenomenological thermodynamic model, including both elastic and electrostatic energy, based on the Ginsburg–Landau–Devonshire theory.