Manufacturing Capabilities

Vertically integrated production with advanced materials science, precision processing, and automated quality control.

Production Scale

Metric Capacity
MLCC Monthly Output Billions of units
Inductor Production Lines 50+ automated lines
Power Supply Assembly 10,000+ units/month
Ferrite Core Capacity Hundreds of millions/year
Sensor MEMS Wafer Processing 8-inch wafer fab

Quality Infrastructure

Certification Scope
ISO 9001:2015 All manufacturing sites
IATF 16949:2016 Automotive product lines
ISO 14001:2015 All manufacturing sites
IEC 61300 (Fiber) Optical components
AEC-Q200 Automotive passive components

Customization Options

Engineering support from prototype to mass production.

Custom Specifications

Non-standard capacitance values, inductance ranges, and voltage ratings. Our design team works from your electrical specifications to select or develop the optimal component.

Modified Packaging

Tape-and-reel, tray, tube, or bulk packaging. Custom reel quantities, special labeling with your part numbers, and humidity-sensitive component handling per J-STD-033.

Supply Chain Programs

Vendor-managed inventory, kanban delivery, consignment stocking, and blanket purchase agreements. Designed to reduce your carrying costs while ensuring production continuity.

Testing & Validation

Every TDK component undergoes multi-stage quality verification before shipment.

  • 100% automated optical inspection (AOI) on all production lines
  • Capacitance/inductance measurement at rated frequency and temperature
  • High-temperature load life testing (HTOL) per AEC-Q200
  • Temperature cycling -55 to +150 degree C, 1000 cycles minimum
  • Moisture sensitivity level (MSL) testing per IPC/JEDEC J-STD-020
  • Board flex testing for MLCC crack resistance
  • Solderability testing per IPC J-STD-002
  • Whisker growth testing for tin-plated terminals
  • Vibration and mechanical shock testing per MIL-STD-202
  • Full lot traceability with certificate of conformance (CoC)

Component Selection Trade-offs

Passive component selection in telecommunications involves inherent engineering trade-offs. Understanding these helps specify the right TDK part for each application.

MLCC Dielectric: C0G vs. X7R vs. X5R

C0G (NP0) capacitors offer near-zero capacitance drift over temperature and voltage, making them the default for RF matching and timing circuits. However, C0G is limited to approximately 10 nF at practical package sizes (0402-0805), which forces designers to X7R or X5R for bulk decoupling. X7R provides higher capacitance density but loses up to 80% of rated capacitance under DC bias at rated voltage, a critical consideration for VRM decoupling in server and base station power circuits. X5R offers even higher density but with tighter temperature limits (-55 to +85 degree C versus X7R's +125 degree C). Designers must balance capacitance density, voltage derating, and thermal stability for each node in the circuit.

Active Optical Networks vs. Passive Optical Networks

The choice between Active Optical Networks (AON) and Passive Optical Networks (PON) directly affects component requirements. AON architectures use powered equipment at each split point, offering dedicated bandwidth per subscriber and reach up to 80 km, but require more power supply units and active electronics at field cabinets. PON uses unpowered optical splitters, reducing operational costs and simplifying outside plant maintenance, but shares bandwidth among subscribers and typically limits reach to 20 km. For TDK components, AON deployments consume more DC-DC converters and EMI filters per node, while PON deployments concentrate power requirements at the OLT, favoring high-efficiency centralized Lambda power shelves.

Operating Considerations & Limitations

Component performance is bounded by physics. These limitations apply to TDK products and must be factored into design.

MLCC DC Bias Derating

X7R and X5R ceramic capacitors exhibit significant capacitance loss under applied DC voltage. A 10 uF / 16V X7R capacitor may retain only 2 uF effective capacitance at 16V DC bias. Always consult the DC bias curve in the product datasheet and design with adequate margin. TDK provides SEAT (Simulation of Electrical characteristics for Advanced Technology) tools for accurate in-circuit capacitance prediction.

Ferrite Saturation Current

Power inductors and ferrite cores have a maximum saturation current beyond which inductance drops sharply (typically defined as the current at which inductance decreases by 30%). Exceeding this limit in switch-mode power supplies causes increased ripple current and potential thermal runaway. Rated current specifications assume 25 degree C ambient; at elevated temperatures (85 degree C+), derate saturation current by 10-20% depending on core material.

Mechanical Stress & Flex Cracking

Large-case MLCCs (1206 and above) are susceptible to flex cracking when mounted on PCBs that undergo bending during assembly or thermal cycling. TDK offers soft-termination (metal-metal bonding) and open-mode safety capacitors that fail open rather than short. For applications with high mechanical stress, consider smaller case sizes (0402, 0603) distributed across more mounting points, or use TDK's MEGACAP polymer capacitors as an alternative.

Discuss Your Requirements

Our engineering team can evaluate your application and recommend the right TDK components.

Contact Engineering