industry news
Subscribe Now

MLCC World-Wide Shortages drive increased demand for Empower Semiconductor E-CAP™ Capacitor Technology: The Highest Performance, Smallest Size, and Most Configurable Capacitor Technology Platform Ever!

Milpitas, Calif., February 2021 — Empower Semiconductor, the world leader in Integrated Voltage Regulators (IVR), today announced it is increasing production of its E-CAP silicon capacitor technology. E-CAP is a vastly superior performing capacitor, far exceeding the semiconductor industry’s previously leading Multi-Layer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCC), which is amidst another significant supply chain shortage. The MLCC market was estimated at $8.4B in 2018.

MLCC’s are space limiting, inefficient, unreliable, and low performing when compared to E-CAP. Empower Semiconductor has made the most significant advancement for capacitors in decades as E-CAP enables new possibilities for today’s applications due to the incredible size reduction, performance increase, and improved reliability. MLCC’s are also prone to material shortages and pricing volatility as witnessed most recently. The E-CAP silicon capacitor product platform can alleviate supply shortages with the added performance and reliability benefits.

“Since we launched E-CAP in late 2020 there has been unprecedented demand for our technology by industry leaders in mobile and data center products. More recently we have received increased demand due to the supply shortage of MLCC products” said Steve Shultis, Senior Vice President WW Sales and Marketing at Empower Semiconductor. “We knew our performance was winning and the added benefit of our supply chain has created a tremendous surge in demand for E-CAP.”

E-CAP can be an ideal replacement of MLCC products as a power supply bypass capacitor in low voltage DC/DC voltage regulators and in-package for SoC’s and Processors. Empower Semiconductor’s silicon capacitor technology features superior stability with no DC or AC bias de-rating, no temperature de-rating, and no significant effects of aging. Combined with the ultra-low ESL (<15pH), E-CAP provides a highly simplified and reliable solution to the system designer. This highly differentiated high-performance technology is available in configurations up to 8.4 microfarad for operating voltages under 5V. Height limited applications are addressed with the capability of less than 100µm in thickness. This tiny die format allows for footprints that are 80% smaller than equivalent MLCC based solutions.

E-CAP is currently offered in two standard products with additional configurations coming soon. The EC1001 is a 220nF low ESR/ESL silicon capacitor in an 0402 package. It can be used as a replacement for common MLCC values of 0.1 microfarad/0.22 microfarad/0.47microfarad. The EC1100 is a 620nF silicon capacitor array (2.5 x 0.6mm) comprising 5 capacitors that can be combined or used individually. Both products are available as 150microfarad thickness in Tape & Reel.

Empower’s EP70XX IVR family, which is known for its superior performance and unmatched power density, was the first application for E-CAP. Empower has mastered the expertise of leveraging the superior characteristics of the technology to provide its size benefits to a variety of implementations such as die, package, and PCB substrates. The performance benefits allow higher power efficiency to be achieved due to the superior voltage filtering for better SoC/CPU voltage accuracy during load transients.

E-CAP opens up demanding new applications in IoT, wearables, mobile, and processors where size, performance, and flexibility are essential.

Availability: E-CAP product range and details are available at https://www.empowersemi.com/ecap-new-capacitor-silicon-revolution/

About Empower Semiconductor
Empower Semiconductor was founded to solve fundamental problems in power density for data-intensive applications. Traditional power solutions require dozens of discrete components with big footprints, complex designs and deliver power inefficiently with poor response times and inaccuracies. Empower’s patented IVR technology integrates dozens of components into a single IC increasing efficiency, shrinking footprints by 10x and delivering power with unprecedented simplicity, speed & accuracy and with zero discrete components. The Empower IVR™ technology solves the power density challenge to address a wide range of applications including mobile, wearables, 5G, AI, and data centers. In 2020 the capacitor technology platform was added to further address power density. E-CAP revolutionized the capacitor industry as the world’s smallest, highest performing, and incredibly reliable capacitor wearables, mobile, and SoC applications. The company is based in Milpitas, CA and is led by a team of highly experienced power experts and executives.

Leave a Reply

featured blogs
Nov 29, 2023
Cavitation poses a formidable challenge to modern boat design, especially for high-speed sailing vessels participating in events like America's Cup , Vendee Globe , and Route du Rhum . Hydrofoils, in particular, are susceptible to cavitation, which can cause surface dama...
Nov 27, 2023
See how we're harnessing generative AI throughout our suite of EDA tools with Synopsys.AI Copilot, the world's first GenAI capability for chip design.The post Meet Synopsys.ai Copilot, Industry's First GenAI Capability for Chip Design appeared first on Chip Design....
Nov 6, 2023
Suffice it to say that everyone and everything in these images was shot in-camera underwater, and that the results truly are haunting....

featured video

TDK CLT32 power inductors for ADAS and AD power management

Sponsored by TDK

Review the top 3 FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) regarding TDK’s CLT32 power inductors. Learn why these tiny power inductors address the most demanding reliability challenges of ADAS and AD power management.

Click here for more information

featured paper

3D-IC Design Challenges and Requirements

Sponsored by Cadence Design Systems

While there is great interest in 3D-IC technology, it is still in its early phases. Standard definitions are lacking, the supply chain ecosystem is in flux, and design, analysis, verification, and test challenges need to be resolved. Read this paper to learn about design challenges, ecosystem requirements, and needed solutions. While various types of multi-die packages have been available for many years, this paper focuses on 3D integration and packaging of multiple stacked dies.

Click to read more

featured chalk talk

What are the Differences Between an Integrated ADC and a Standalone ADC?
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Microchip
Many designs today require some form of analog to digital conversion but how you implement an ADC into your design can make a big difference when it comes to accuracy and precision. In this episode of Chalk Talk, Iman Chalabi from Microchip and Amelia Dalton investigate the benefits of both integrated ADC solutions and standalone ADCs. They discuss the roles that internal switching noise, process technology, and design complexity play when choosing the right ADC solution for your next design.
Apr 17, 2023
26,954 views