New Industry Products

Murata Launches Capacitor Lines for LED Lighting Applications

May 12, 2011 by Jeff Shepard

Murata Electronics North America announced the release of a series of capacitors designed specifically to provide unsurpassed DC smoothing and acoustic noise reduction in light-emitting diodes (LED) lighting applications. In the past, decreased capacitive values and a piezo-electronic phenomenon within capacitors have caused light flickering and acoustic noise – posing significant engineering challenges. Given that, many designers avoided the use of ceramics in these applications, regardless of their miniaturized size and higher temperature reliability. The GR3 and RDE (X7T) lines of multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) were developed specifically to overcome the flickering and noise problems. The GR3 family is ideal for reflow soldering use, while the RDE series provides radial leaded insertion production capabilities.

Compared to standard ceramic capacitors, there is a 10dB acoustic noise reduction with the GR3 line, with further decreased achieved by incorporating the RDE leaded parts. The GR3 is available in 250, 450 or 630Vdc rating and popular capacitances starting from 10nF and extending up to 1,000nF for the 250V, 560nF for the 450V and 270nF for the 630V. Package sizes include 0805, 1206, 1210, 1812 and 2220. The RDE leaded series has the same voltage rating as the GR3 series with capacitances starting from 33nF to a maximum of 2.2µF for the 250V, 1.2µF for the 450V and 560nF for the 630V.

"With the market for green and eco-friendly products growing by leaps and bounds, LED lighting is garnering increasing importance," stated Frank Yang, application engineer, Murata Electronics North America. "We are committed to achieving the rigorous requirements that these applications demand. The GR3 and RDE lines are a critical piece in helping designers ensure the maximum lifetime and energy efficiency requirements of their end products."

The pricing for Murata’s GR3 series starts at $0.05 for the 10nF/250V and the RDE series starts at $0.15 for the 33nF/250V. The lead-time is eight to 10 weeks.