This document covers the general industry inspection requirements for molded surface mount tantalum capacitors with solid electrolyte. The devices selected for inspection shall be examined under 3 power to 10 power magnification to determine compliance with the requirements specified herein. Sampling plans or lot accept/reject criteria shall be negotiated between the supplier and the customer.

Case defects as referenced in figure 1

Show through

Devices shall not exhibit visible internal metallic body or lead frame material.

Top surface

The top surface of the device should be smooth, flat, and free of voids or mold marks. This area must be at least 1.0 mm (0.04 in) in diameter. This area must be located at the device centroid, which is used as a vacuum pickup point.

Holes

No single hole shall be greater than 0.5 1 mm (0.020 in) in diameter. There shall be no more than three holes in a single unit.

Chips (or chipouts)

No chip or combination of chips shall extend more than 50% of a side or allow metallic body or lead material to be exposed.

Cracks

Case cracks are not allowed.

Flash

Molding flash shall not exceed 0.13 mm (0.005 in) protruding from any surface or cause the capacitor body to exceed the maximum case dimensions.

Glue pad

If a glue pad is on the case either as a depression or protrusion the depression shall be no deeper than 0.5 1 mm (0.020 in) and the protrusion no thicker than the termination thickness.

Gate scar

Gate scars shall not exceed 0.13 mm (0.005 in) protruding from the case or cause the capacitor to exceed the maximum case dimensions.

Offset Case

Molded halves of a case must not be offset by more than 0.25 mm (0.010 in) or cause the capacitor to exceed the maximum case dimensions.

Contamination

No foreign material such as dirt or metal particles are allowed on the molded case of the capacitor.

Blister or bubbles

Blisters or bubbles on the case are not allowed.

Workmanship

Color and texture of the devices may vary from gloss to dull, however, abnormal discoloration is not allowed. Case melting and abnormally rough surfaces are not allowed. Cosmetic scratches and other defects having no apparent depth are acceptable.

Termination defects

Missing terminations

Missing terminations are not allowed.

Lead frame window

Lead frame windows may or may not be visible. Lead frame windows on one or both terminations should be centered properly in the lead frame.

Termination condition

There shall be no cracks, cuts, splitting, tool marks, removed solder, dewetting, or exposed termination base metal in solderable areas. Case material, contaminants or other foreign material should not be present. The termination surface shall be free of bumps or nodules.

Lead thickness reduction as referenced in figure 2

There shall be no reduction or flattening in lead thickness greater than 25 percent. This includes the necking area where the lead exits the case. Splitting in the necking area is not allowed.

Solderability (see figure 1)

Leads must meet specification solderability requirements

Printing Defects

Missing printing

Missing printing is not allowed.

Incorrect or backward printing

There shall be no incorrect or backward printing and printing must agree with specification requirements.

Legibility

Characters must be readable at three power with no smearing.

Double

characters A second set of characters is not allowed

Polarity

The polarity stripe for all tantalum capacitors shall be on the positive end of the body and be plainly visible.

Location

Printing must be at the proper specified location on the capacitor body.

Dimensional defects

Surface Mount tantalum capacitors must meet the specification dimensional criteria

Dimensional criteria must be compatible with specifications for tape and reel packaging.

Terminations are shown in figure 3 and 4.

On the bottom side of the capacitor the termination shall not project from the body by more than 0.20 mm (0.008 in) max.

The termination on the bottom side of the capacitor shall be uniform in width and shall not be reduced by more than 25 percent from side to side.