Development of thermistor materials and countermeasures for overheating and overcurrent protection, latest technological trends.

Technical trends and market movements explained by two instructors (Yokohama National University, Murata Manufacturing) incorporating various characteristics of thermistors and application examples.

Part 1 [Lecture Summary] NTC thermistors are utilized as temperature sensors due to their characteristic of exponentially decreasing electrical resistance with rising temperature. First, I will explain the applications and types of thermistor materials. I will also take the example of the Mn-Co-Ni ternary oxide, one of the thermistor materials, and explain its electrical properties while showing actual products. Furthermore, I will introduce the crystal structure of thermistor materials and discuss their electrical properties, including thermistor characteristics and conduction mechanisms. Next, I will highlight the issues with the general manufacturing methods of thermistor materials and explain the manufacturing method and electrical properties of cubic spinel-type single-phase sintered bodies to achieve stable electrical characteristics. Part 2 [Lecture Summary] PTC thermistors exhibit a very unique resistance-temperature characteristic, showing low resistance at room temperature and a sharp increase in resistance at a specific temperature. This characteristic is utilized for overcurrent protection and temperature detection in AV equipment, PCs, mobile phones, game consoles, and automobiles. In particular, for overcurrent protection, they act as fuses that automatically reset when the abnormal condition is cleared, and for temperature detection, they have the feature of enabling temperature detection at multiple points with a single detection circuit.

Technical Seminar