The future of passive component

2023-12-08

As technology continues to evolve at an astounding pace, passive components play a crucial role in various industries. They form the backbone of electronic circuits, contributing to the efficient flow of signals and power.

we would like to highlight the key advancements and trends that are shaping the future of passive components:

Miniaturization: With the ongoing trend of miniaturization in the electronic industry, passive components are becoming smaller and more compact, allowing for greater integration and efficiency.

Advanced Materials: The development of innovative materials is revolutionizing passive component technology. These materials offer higher performance, improved reliability, and enhanced functionality.

Increased Capacities: As electronic devices become more sophisticated, the demand for higher capacities in resistors, capacitors, and inductors continues to rise. Manufacturers are continuously pushing the limits to meet these needs.

Internet of Things (IoT): The rapid growth of IoT devices necessitates the use of compact and power-efficient passive components. These components enable seamless connectivity and optimal performance for IoT applications.

Passive components have played a significant role in the evolution of technology. Their history dates back to the 18^th century, and understanding their past can shed light on their current applications and advancements.

1.the past of passive component 

Around 250 years ago, there are some one who considered to be the very first capacitor. It was the first device capable of storing an electric charge. Since that capacitors developed into fascinating components capable to cover 17 ranges ! of capacitance values from sub volt to hundred thousands of volts. See below picture of the current capacitance vs voltage overview of mass volume capacitor technologies.

From 2019 to 2011 year, we have experienced some shortage of some components such as MLCC capacitors or resistors and market conditions unlike anything we have seen before.

It impacts the design engineers were driven to align usage with parts readily available – compromises made

Exploring Design Changes to Reduce Component Count

Increased Collaboration in New IC Types Causing Accelerated Innovation / Rate of Change

2.Now: the Latest in Capacitance Technology Advancements

We are excited to inform you about the newest advancements in capacitance technology! Capacitance technology has rapidly evolved in recent years, offering enhanced performance and efficiency for a wide range of applications.

As we have seen, massive new markets and application needs is one of current drivers. We are in human era of fast adoption of digital based services and hardware development in areas such as:

Lets dive into two sectors: IoT

Example of passive components involvement: Advances in semiconductor technologies is one of the strong driver that enables fast IoT, wearables, energy harvesting development etc. However, its use in real applications would not be possible without development of enabling capacitor technologies.

This picture shows trends in semiconductor density development.

Semiconductor die scaling is however also associated with IC voltage drop as shown on Fig.6. that makes direct impact to:

Capacitors job decoupling more critical

Clock & data speeds making di/dt drawn larger

Such requirements are calling for a low inductance, high frequency decoupling solution. The actual solution today is based either on low inductance MLCC types or small case size MLCCs in low inductance configuration using a 0402 Caps Inside 0.8 mm Pitch BGA or 0201 Caps Placed 90° Rotated.

IoT is thus one of the current and future application where capacitors enables the further growth and performance improvements. The growth of IoT in 2019 will reach 18 billion USD according to Ericsson, or 37 billion per Statista with further growth to 75 billion USD in 2025. The number of connected devices will exceed 75 Billion by 2025 according to Cisco – see below picture

3.The passive component for advanced appliance

With such IoT growth forecast IoT is becoming the major driver of passive component volumes in near future. One of the IoT challenges is its energy independence from the main power networking relying on batteries or a other energy sources using its potential to 24/7 remote monitoring of anything. Batteries are often non-practical solution from small wearables to large wind power generators with difficult & expensive maintenance. Thus IoT will also drive energy harvesting methods, circuits & modules and a local storage technologies such as capacitors.

Cost pressures and downsizing are driving further IoT integration with miniaturization requirements for all components. Power energy harvesting will need advancements in energy storage components – from on-chip nano-dimensions to high power large systems. The storage solutions will have to feature parameters such as:

low leakage current

high storage capability (high capacitance value)

sufficient energy and power density

Optimum storage component selection guide may differ with actual applications and it can be based on capacitor, hybrid capacitor/battery or pure battery technologies. See below picture for current energy storage technologies overview.

4.The future of passive component

The world of passive components is evolving at a rapid pace, and staying up-to-date with the latest advancements is crucial for anyone in the industry. From miniaturization to increased performance, the future of passive components is full of exciting possibilities.

For energy storage component power of the future requirements, it should be as below key words:

Small, Light, Cheap

High Performance

High Life Cycles

Reliable

Billions Made

Increase integration and downsizing has resulted in ICs evolution towards System-on-chip (SoC) and System-in-package (SiP) solutions. This trend is also associated with increase of power quality needs. Chart in below picture. is illustrating the trend of semiconductor miniaturization and diversification into creation of higher value systems for the future.

At Hongda Capacitors, we strive to stay at the forefront of this dynamic industry, offering state-of-the-art passive components that cater to the ever-growing demands of our customers.

We invite you to explore our updated product line and discover how these capacitance technology advancements can benefit your business. Stay ahead of the curve and embrace the future of technology with our cutting-edge solutions.