The primary market for this technology is power supply circuits for plasma cell flat panel displays, where ambient temperature is getting higher due to high power consumption combined with a greater density of components on the PCB. These products are also suitable for general power supplies and other applications that require high operating temperatures.
Murata has developed new ceramic materials which provide high reliability at high ambient temperatures. The HiCap series is available with values up to 100uF in case sizes from 01005 to 1210, with either X7R, X7S or X7U temperature coefficients, depending on capacitance value.
Work to expand the range to include all temperature coefficients in all case sizes has already begun, with a 1210 size X7R10uF50V component already receiving strong interest from the market as a replacement for tantalum and aluminium electrolytic capacitors.