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At least 235 records · Page 13

Effect of Inductance and Requirements for Surge Current Testing of Tantalum Capacitors

Surge current testing is considered one of the most important techniques to evaluate reliability and/or screen out potentially defective tantalum capacitors for low-impedance applications. Analysis of this test, as it is described in the MIL-PRF-55365 document, shows that it does not address several issues that are important to assure adequate and reproducible testing. This work investigates the effect of inductance of the test circuit on voltage and current transients and analyzes requirements for the elements of the circuit, in particular, resistance of the circuit, inductance of wires and resistors, type of switching devices, and characteristics of energy storage bank capacitors. Simple equations to estimate maximum inductance of the circuit to prevent voltage overshooting and minimum duration of charging/discharging cycles to avoid decreasing of the effective voltage and overheating of the parts during surge current testing are suggested.

Teverosky, Alexander↗

Effects of a Tantalum Addition on the Morphological and Compositional Evolutions of a Model Ni-AL-Cr Superalloy

The effects of a 2.0 at.% addition of Ta to a model Ni-Al-Cr superalloy aged at 1073 K are assessed using scanning electron microscopy and atom-probe tomography. The addition of Ta results in appreciable strengthening, and the morphology is found to evolve from a bimodal distribution of spheroidal precipitates, to cuboidal precipitates aligned along the elastically soft <001>-type directions. Tantalum is observed to partition preferentially to the gamma -precipitate phase and decreases the mobility of Ni in the gamma- matrix sufficiently to cause an accumulation of Ni on the gamma-matrix side of the gamma -precipitate/gamma-matrix heterophase interface.

Booth-Morrison, Christopher↗

Effects of Tantalum on the Temporal Evolution of a Model Ni-Al-Cr Superalloy During Phase Decomposition

The effects of a 2.0 at.% addition of Ta to a model Ni-10.0Al-8.5Cr (at.%) superalloy aged at 1073 K are assessed using scanning electron microscopy and atom-probe tomography. The gamma'(Ll2)-precipitate morphology that develops as a result of gamma-(fcc)matrix phase decomposition is found to evolve from a bimodal distribution of spheroidal precipitates, to {001}-faceted cuboids and parallelepipeds aligned along the elastically soft {001}-type directions. The phase compositions and the widths of the gamma'-precipitate/gamma-matrix heterophase interfaces evolve temporally as the Ni-Al-Cr-Ta alloy undergoes quasi-stationary state coarsening after 1 h of aging. Tantalum is observed to partition preferentially to the gamma'-precipitate phase, and suppresses the mobility of Ni in the gamma-matrix sufficiently to cause an accumulation of Ni on the gamma-matrix side of the gamma'/gamma interface. Additionally, computational modeling, employing Thermo-Calc, Dictra and PrecipiCalc, is employed to elucidate the kinetic pathways that lead to phase decomposition in this concentrated Ni-Al-Cr-Ta alloy.

Booth, Morrison, Christopher↗

Cost Estimate for Molybdenum and Tantalum Refractory Metal Alloy Flow Circuit Concepts

The Early Flight Fission-Test Facilities (EFF-TF) team at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has been tasked by the Naval Reactors Prime Contract Team (NRPCT) to provide a cost and delivery rough order of magnitude estimate for a refractory metal-based lithium (Li) flow circuit. The design is based on the stainless steel Li flow circuit that is currently being assembled for an NRPCT task underway at the EFF-TF. While geometrically the flow circuit is not representative of a final flight prototype, knowledge has been gained to quantify (time and cost) the materials, manufacturing, fabrication, assembly, and operations to produce a testable configuration. This Technical Memorandum (TM) also identifies the following key issues that need to be addressed by the fabrication process: Alloy selection and forming, cost and availability, welding, bending, machining, assembly, and instrumentation. Several candidate materials were identified by NRPCT including molybdenum (Mo) alloy (Mo-47.5 %Re), tantalum (Ta) alloys (T-111, ASTAR-811C), and niobium (Nb) alloy (Nb-1 %Zr). This TM is focused only on the Mo and Ta alloys, since they are of higher concern to the ongoing effort. The initial estimate to complete a Mo-47%Re system ready for testing is =$9,000k over a period of 30 mo. The initial estimate to complete a T-111 or ASTAR-811C system ready for testing is =$12,000k over a period of 36 mo.

Hickman, Robert R.↗

Tantalum-Based Ceramics for Refractory Composites

A family of tantalum-based ceramics has been invented as ingredients of high-temperature composite insulating tiles. These materials are suitable for coating and/or permeating the outer layers of rigid porous (foam-like or fibrous) ceramic substrates to (1) render the resulting composite ceramic tiles impervious to hot gases and (2) enable the tiles to survive high heat fluxes at temperatures that can exceed 3,000 F ( 1,600 C).

Stewart, David A.↗

Diffusion-Cooled Tantalum Hot-Electron Bolometer Mixers

A batch of experimental diffusion-cooled hot-electron bolometers (HEBs), suitable for use as mixers having input frequencies in the terahertz range and output frequencies up to about a gigahertz, exploit the superconducting/normal-conducting transition in a thin strip of tantalum. The design and operation of these HEB mixers are based on mostly the same principles as those of a prior HEB mixer that exploited the superconducting/normal- conducting transition in a thin strip of niobium and that was described elsewhere.

Skalare, Anders↗

Characterization of Tantalum Polymer Capacitors

Overview Reviewed data Caution must be taken when accelerating test conditions Data not useful to establish an acceleration model Introduction of new failure mechanism skewing results Evidence of Anti-Wear-Out De-doping of polymer Decreased capacitance Increased ESR Not dielectric breakdown Needs further investigation Further investigation into tantalum polymer capacitor technology Promising acceleration model for Manufacturer A Possibility for use in high-reliability space applications with suitable voltage derating.

Voltage Acceleration↗

2014 NEPP Tasks Update for Ceramic and Tantalum Capacitors

Presentation describes recent development in research on MnO2, wet, and polymer tantalum capacitors. Low-voltage failures in multilayer ceramic capacitors and techniques to reveal precious metal electrode (PME) and base metal electrode (BME) capacitors with cracks are discussed. A voltage breakdown technique is suggested to select high quality low-voltage BME ceramic capacitors.

ceramic capacitors↗

Effect of Environments on Parametric Degradation in Polymer Tantalum Capacitors

Chip polymer tantalum capacitors (CPTCs) are more sensitive to environments compared to conventional, MnO2 cathode capacitors. Contrary to MnO2 capacitors, CPTCs can degrade with time of storage even in dry conditions, that might limit their use for space applications. Performance of CPTCs depends on the amount of moisture in the slug, and varies with time of storage after manufacturing. For this reason, characteristics of the parts and qualification testing should be carried out after preconditioning to stabilize moisture content. This work analyzes kinetics of moisture sorption and desorption in different types of CPTCs from three manufacturers. Variations of capacitance, dissipation factor, ESR, and leakage currents caused by exposure to humid, dry, and radiation environments are discussed. Examples of the effects of long-term exposure to vacuum and humid environments at 85%RH are presented. Temperature dependencies of the characteristic times of moisture diffusion allow for assessments of the bake-out times that are necessary to avoid pop-corning failures after soldering and to precondition parts before qualification testing.

Teverovsky, Alexander↗

Evaluation of Feed-Through Polymer Tantalum Capacitors for Space Applications

In 2023 AVX developed a new technology of feed-through capacitors that can be used for high (up to GHz range) frequency signal filtering for FPGA, microswitches or micro-DC-DC converters as a replacement for the currently used MLCCs. This part is a Low Inductance Bulk Capacitor (LIBC). It has low ESR and insertion loss values and is manufactured using technology similar to chip polymer tantalum capacitors and have. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the design and performance of the parts using engineering samples from AVX, address potential reliability issues, and suggest screening and lot acceptance procedures necessary to use these capacitors in space projects.

Alexander Teverovsky↗

Tantalum hot-electron bolometers for low-noise heterodyne receivers

We describe superconducting diffusion-cooled hot-electron bolometers that were fabricated fromtantalum films grown on a thin niobium seed layer. The seed layer promotes single-phase growth of the Ta films, resulting in high-quality bolometers with transition temperatures up to 2.35 K and transition widths of less than 0.2 K. An S-parameter measurement set-up in a He-3 cryostat was used to measure device impedance versus frequency of a 400 nm long device at a temperature of 400 mK. It is shown that a 3 dB roll-off frequency of about 1 GHz can be achieved when the device resistance matches the impedance of the embedding network (no electrothermal feedback). This would lead to a prediction of 16 GHz for a 100 nm device, and indicates that a heterodyne mixer using a Ta HEB should be able to operate at several GHz even with a significant amount of electrothermal feedback.

bolometer superconductor tantalum↗

Reliability Issues with Polymer and MnO2 Tantalum Capacitors for Space Applications

This work gives a comparative analysis of degradation processes, failure modes and mechanisms in MnO2 and polymer technology capacitors. Analyzed conditions include effects of vacuum and radiation, soldering (pop-corning), long-term storage and operation at high temperatures, stability at low and high temperatures, and anomalous transients. Screening and qualification procedures to assure space-grade quality of CPTCs are suggested.

tantalum capacitors↗