We, at NEC TOKIN (President: Yuichi Haneta; Head office: Sendai, Japan), have realized large capacitances of up to 47mF with the 1608 size (1.6ƒG0.8ƒG0.8㎜) tantalum chip capacitor, which is particularly growing in demand among chip tantalum capacitors.  This capacitor meets the trends for higher density and lower profile semiconductor packages in the field of small sets. LCD modules, camera modules, and mobile phones are becoming smaller and thinner at a remarkable rate. Accordingly, their semiconductor packages are also increasingly higher in density and lower in profile. Semiconductor packages represented by TBGA are now only 0.5 mm in thickness. Under these circumstances, requests for even thinner peripheral parts are growing stronger. As progress continues in reductions in drive voltage, increases in speed, and enhancements in functions of semiconductor devices, large volume capacitors with several tens of mF are also in need. Among conventional tantalum capacitors, including those of competitors, the greatest capacitance offered was 10mF from the 1608 size at up to 0.9 mm in height; however, even that could no longer meet the recent needs for higher densities and lower profiles. The static capacitance of a tantalum capacitor is determined by the volume of the tantalum device inside the capacitor. Because of internal space occupied by terminals, the above capacitance was virtually the limit. By developing a technology to minimize the terminal-occupied space, NEC TOKIN successfully doubled the space for internal element in a capacitor to increase the capacitance to 47mF, about five times the conventional level. Sample distribution will start in October and products are expected to be on the market by next January. Since the conventional J Case production lines can be used as they are, production will be started at our main factory, NEC TOKIN Technologies (Thailand). Production output will initially start at two million pieces a month, but increased as required to meet growths in demand. This new technology will first be applied to the 1608 size tantalum capacitors, which seem to be enjoying the greatest demand among small sets.  It will then be extended to 2.5V-47mF to 16V-4.7mF series. In the future, the technology will even be applied to the 1608 size of the conductive polymer capacitor "NeoCapacitor" to meet needs for reduced ESR. For inquiries, contact: Hirokazu Shiromoto Solution Engineering Division, Energy Devices Operations Unit e-mail:  h-shiromoto@nec-tokin.com （1608 Size Tantalum Capacitors with 47mF ）