Solutions for Acoustic Noise caused by Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors

Multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) are present in every electronic device. Unfortunately, due to the dielectric material they are made of, they vibrate in the presence of an electric field. This vibration is transferred to the PCB via the solder joint creating the acoustic noise known as “singing” capacitor phenomenon. There are multiple solutions to attenuate this phenomenon. In this paper, we investigate the effect of solder paste reduction, oven curing, varnishing, MLCC orientation, and layout optimization on the acoustic noise caused by MLCCs.