SBIR Phase I: Cobond/Cofired Capacitor Based Electronics

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will investigate development of a Lead Zirconium Titanate (PZT) analog of multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) technology. Typically comprised of Barium Titanate materials, MLCC devices are the most produced and used capacitors in electronic industry with a produced quantity of approximately 1000 billion pieces per year. However, as a piezoelectric material, Barium Titanate has been largely replaced by PZT. However, PZT device applications have been constrained until now by both cost and performance. In particular, although used extensively for mid-high voltages that extend from laptop transformers to actuators, such technology struggles with low voltage applications prohibiting it from key applications such as electronics power supplies and adaptors. The aim is to emulate MLCC technology with two fundamental distinctions more complex materials poling of final multilayer devices and enabling such multilayer electroded ceramic production that eliminates the onerous cost of capital equipment to manufacture. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be that it directly enables application of PZT technology to a wide range of very low/mid voltage (low to high impedance electrical load) power electronics applications, much as has been accomplished for electronics with MLCC technology. It will enable non-magnetic power electronics including supplies, voltage sensors, isolators, and point-of-load inverters that both drastically reduce electromagnetic interface (EMI) and radio frequency interface (RFI) issues and lead to a far greener technology solution for emergent electronics based consumer goods, such as light-emitting diode (LED) lighting and low cost solar energy. The new technology is potentially smaller, lighter weight and less cost to produce than magnetics-based products, which, at present, is the only option for this enormous array of volume consumer products and applications that include all mobile electronics, gaming consoles, wireless communication, and indeed all control boards used in vehicular, aerospace and domestic use.