Why are multilayer ceramic capacitors useful for surface-mounted circuit boards?

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Figure 1: Ferroelectric properties of barium titanate (BaTiO3). (Left) Above 120° C the structure of the BaTiO3 crystal is cubic, and there is no net polarization of charge; (right) below 120° C the structure changes to tetragonal, shifting the relative positions of the ions and causing a concentration of positive and negative charges toward opposite ends of the crystal. — capacitor dielectric and piezoelectric ceramics Figure 1: Ferroelectric properties of barium titanate (BaTiO₃). (Left) Above 120° C the structure of the BaTiO₃ crystal is cubic, and there is no net polarization of charge; (right) below 120° C the structure changes to tetragonal, shifting the relative positions of the ions and causing a concentration of positive and negative charges toward opposite ends of the crystal.

Multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCs) are highly useful for surface-mounted circuit boards due to their compact size, low cost, and excellent performance at high frequencies.1

Unlike traditional disk capacitors, which can become fragile when made thin to increase capacitance, MLCs achieve high capacitance by interleaving multiple dielectric and electrode layers. By connecting these alternate layers in parallel, manufacturers can realize large capacitance values within a small, monolithic structure. These properties make them ideal for modern electronic circuitry and surface-mounting applications.1