FAQs
What is the KO-MAT (KEMET Organic, Polymer, Multiple-Anode, Tantalum) Capacitor?
The KO-MAT is an extremely low-ESR, volumetrically efficient, organic tantalum chip capacitor that offers
high capacitance retention while preventing thermal events (ignition failures).
What are the KO-MAT’s Main Features?
• A new organic conductive polymer that replaces the manganese dioxide (MnO2) used in traditional tantalum
capacitors and the previous multiple-anode, T510 device.
• Extremely low ESR.
• Organic polymer does not give up oxygen if the dielectric fails short, thus preventing ignition.
• Improved high-frequency capacitance retention and true surface mount capability.
• It has superior volumetric efficiency (equivalent to traditional tantalum products).
• Temperature range from -55°C up to +125°C.
What advantages does the KO-MAT offer over traditional tantalums?
• Organic polymer is more conductive than MnO2 – lower ESR.
• Non-ignition failure mode prevents thermal events.
• Higher capacitance retention at higher frequencies means fewer parts are required to achieve the desired
capacitance.
• Derating only by 20% with recommended applications up to 80% of rating.
What benefits does the KO-MAT offer?
• Lower ESR and increased conductivity combine to reduce the number of capacitors required.
• Fewer capacitors save board space and reduce cost as well as storage and inspection requirements.
• The KO-MAT allows tantalum capacitors to be used in circuits never considered possible before, such as
input filters.
• Lowers the capacitors’ overall CO$T; therefore, reducing the system CO$T.
In what types of designs is the KO-MAT technology most needed?
In designs where high delivery current, low ESR, no ignition, high volumetric efficiency and surfacemountable capacitors are needed.
What markets will KEMET initially focus on selling the KO-MAT to?
Power supply manufacturers and microprocessor circuits.
Is the KO-MAT intended to replace KEMET’s current T510 tantalum offering?
Yes and no. These devices represent KEMET’s ongoing product improvement, allowing fewer parts and
lower system costs for our customers. These may offer lower cost system solutions when compared to Os-Con
or leaded aluminum, as well as tantalum devices with MnO2 systems. There are instances where the MnO2
systems in traditional tantalum devices may be preferred (decoupling in a battery’s primary circuit) because of
lower leakage currents associated with the MnO2. The higher leakage current with the KO-MAT (2 to 3 times
the leakage current of traditional MnO2 systems) is a reflection of the higher conductivity of the polymer in that
there is less heat generated for a given fault current than in the MnO2 systems, resulting in higher overall
leakage currents.
It has been reported that the polymer cathode system used in the KO and KO-MAT products do not
have failure rates that decrease with time (the same as with MnO2 devices). Is this true?
No. Contrary to published statements from some tantalum manufacturers that do not have polymer
capabilities, the polymer has a self-healing capability in that it can clear a connection to a fault site by
evaporating with the higher current into this site. This clearing mechanism is apparent in scintillation testing
and Weibull life testing. In the scintillation testing, the energy required to heal the fault site is fractions of that
required for healing the MnO2 as evident by extremely small voltage decays. With the Weibull life testing,
because the polymer has created fewer flaws in the dielectric, the normal 1.32 time voltage stress results in no
measurable failures. To generate failures and allow the calculation of the failure rate, this test has to run at 2
times the rated voltage. These tests result in beta functions near 0.35 – indicating the declining failure rate with
time.
KO-MAT / T530 Product Release 5/2002