AVX: more supercapacitors in the future
Reliability – even at high temperatures
The plastic, epoxy-filled housing technology of AVX’s latest double-layer capacitors ensure that these high reliability products have at least double the lifetime performance over standard SCM series products.
Supercapacitors, or otherwise known as double-layer capacitors, hold promise for the future. In concrete terms, market researchers expect that over the course of the next four years, the market for supercapacitors will more than double in value. For example, the use of supercapacitors in industry is vastly growing. Their fields of application include uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) and energy harvesting.
Taking up this development, AVX has set itself the goal of developing supercapacitors with high reliability, a wide temperature range and high operating voltages. AVX aims to achieve this through modern development and production processes, licensing agreements and company acquisitions. “Two years ago, we launched our first products from our own development,” reports Ussama Margieh, FAE Team Manager Europe at AVX.
AVX is using electronica 2018 to present its latest developments in this field, the SCM series. These newly developed supercapacitor modules feature high reliability, especially when used in elevated temperatures and/or humidity conditions.
The plastic, epoxy-filled housing technology of the new supercapacitors from AVX block moisture ingress resulting in double (and longer) lifetime performance over standard SCM series product under normal conditions With its performance data at temperatures of +65°C and high humidity, the new SMC series is one of the leading products on the market.
These SCM series supercapacitors offer excellent pulse power handling characteristics based on the combination of high capacitance and low ESR. Used by themselves or in conjunction with primary or secondary batteries, they provide extended back up time, longer battery life, and provide instantaneous power pulses as needed.
The high reliability parts also passed 1,000+ hours of 85°C/85% RH. This test is part of the AEC-Q200 automotive qualification for capacitors and therefore points in the direction of future developments and applications. First samples of the SCM series double-layer capacitors have been available since the third quarter of this year.
The focus at electronica 2018 will also be on the advanced passive and active antenna systems from Ethertronics. AVX acquired the antenna specialist at the beginning of the year for a total of around USD 150 million. “Ethertronics is a premier brand that we are proud to add to the AVX family,” stated John Sarvis, President and Chief Executive Officer of AVX Corporation, at the announcement of the acquisition, and made it clear that through the combination of AVX and Ethertronics he expected “exciting growth potential for the years ahead.”
Ethertronics designs, manufactures and markets passive and active antenna systems for wireless applications. The antennas are based on the in-house Isolated Magnetic Dipole (IMD) technology. IMD antennas are characterized by the fact that they are insensitive to changes in ground planes or local interference. The unique design allows flexibility to tune for multiple frequencies in confined spaces and for active tuning for radiation pattern coverage as well as frequency.
Based on special technologies (the company holds over 200 patents), such as integrated laser direct structuring (LDS), Ethertronics has become a leading supplier of antenna systems for mobile phones and laptops. Ethertronics employs approximately 700 employees, 120 of whom are actively engaged in product development.
The fact that AVX, a part of Kyocera, is opening up new markets and acquiring technologies through acquisitions is due to Kyocera management’s decision to sell Kyocera products outside Japan via its own sales structures rather than via AVX as in the past. However, by opening up new business fields, AVX President and CEO John Sarvis now seems to have succeeded in more than compensating for the decline in AVX sales caused by the Kyocera decision.
