Samsung Electro-Mechanics MLCC targets AI and automotive markets with world-leading technology
- ▶ Accelerating improvement in corporate structure focusing on new businesses beyond smartphones such as automotive, AI and servers
- - Focus on growth businesses such as servers and automotive with cutting-edge technologies such as ultra-small and ultra-high capacity
- - Aiming to reach KRW 1 trillion for automotive MLCCs in 2024
- ▶ Automotive MLCC market to grow from KRW 4 trillion in 2023 to KRW 9.5 trillion in 2028
Samsung Electro-Mechanics is preparing for the transition to future growth markets by improving its corporate structure in response to changes in the electronics industry.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics is expanding its existing IT business by continuously introducing new technologies and new products for MLCC, its core business, and developing core technologies. The company plans to focus on growth businesses such as servers and automotive based on the technology it has acquired in the IT field.
Specifically, it aims to achieve KRW 1 trillion in automotive MLCC sales in 2024 through expanding its automotive product lineup and differentiated technology.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics also plans to aggressively target industrial product markets such as AI servers and robots for factory automation, which are emerging megatrend markets, based on its high-reliability technology for automotive and ultra-high-capacity technology for IT.
□ MLCC, Advanced Technology as Thin as a Human Hair
MLCC (Multi-Layer Ceramic Capacitor) is a component that stores electricity and stably supplies electricity to active components such as semiconductors (APs, ICs) as needed to enable semiconductors to operate smoothly. It also plays a role in eliminating signal interference (noise) in electronic products.
MLCCs are used not only in smartphones, but also in products containing semiconductors and electronic circuits, such as televisions, home appliances, and electric vehicles.
The size of the product varies from 0.4mm*0.2mm (the thickness of a human hair is about 0.3mm) to 5.7mm*5.0mm, which is thinner than a human hair and barely visible to the naked eye. The latest smartphones contain about 1,000 and electric vehicles contain about 18,000 to 20,000.
Although it is the smallest electronic component, it is a high-tech product with 500~600 layers of dielectric and electrodes inside and is a high-value component worth hundreds of millions of won when filled into a 300ml wine glass.
□ MLCCs Require the Most Sophisticated Technologies at the Micro Level
MLCCs have a competitive advantage in that they can store large amounts of electricity while maintaining a small size, so it is essential to have particulate material technology such as dielectrics and manufacturing technology that can stack layers uniformly without interference.
At the nanotechnology level, the technology with the highest barrier to entry is semiconductors, but at the microtechnology level, MLCC has the highest barrier to entry.
MLCCs are made by alternating layers of ceramic and metal (nickel). They are made by a process in which raw material with various additives is printed as thin as paper, stacked, cut to the required size, and heat treated like baking ceramics.
Which substances are added to the ceramic material and how much of each substance is added determines the characteristics of MLCCs. This ceramic raw material technology is the know-how of MLCC manufacturers and is the core technology of MLCC.
In addition, the more inner layers (ceramic and nickel) are stacked, the more electricity can be accumulated, so the micro-control manufacturing technology to make them thin and small is also very important.
Another factor that determines the quality of MLCCs is temperature, as the alternating layers of ceramic and nickel are baked at a high temperature of over 1,000°C. However, it is not easy to achieve the right temperature because ceramic and nickel bake at different temperatures.
Even if it is baked at the right temperature, it will not function properly if microscopic cracks are formed in the thin inner layer. Therefore, it is important to check the quality and appearance, including the electrical properties, for internal cracks, even if there is no visible damage on the outside.