KEMET Corporation, a subsidiary of Yageo Corporation (TAIEX: 2327),is an American company which manufactures a broad selection of capacitor technologies such as

tantalum Tantalum is a chemical element with the symbol Ta and atomic number 73. Previously known as ''tantalium'', it is named after Tantalus, a villain in Greek mythology. Tantalum is a very hard, ductile, lustrous, blue-gray transition metal that is ...

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

, multilayer ceramic,

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...

, polymer electrolytic, and

supercapacitor A supercapacitor (SC), also called an ultracapacitor, is a high-capacity capacitor, with a capacitance value much higher than other capacitors but with lower voltage limits. It bridges the gap between electrolytic capacitors and rechargeable ba ...

s. KEMET also manufacturers a variety of other passive electronic components, such as AC line filters, EMI cores and filters, flex suppressors, electro-mechanical devices (relays), metal composite inductors, ferrite products, and transformers/magnetics. The product line consists of nearly 5 million distinct part configurations distinguished by various attributes, such as dielectric (or insulating) material, configuration, encapsulation, capacitance (at various tolerances), voltage, performance characteristics, and packaging.

History

In 1919, KEMET Laboratories was founded by

Union Carbide Corporation Union Carbide Corporation is an American chemical corporation wholly owned subsidiary (since February 6, 2001) by Dow Chemical Company. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers befo ...

to capitalize on its purchase of Cooper Research Company of

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. Cooper had developed an

alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductility, ...

that could be used in the manufacture of

vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied. The type kn ...

components. The name "KEMET" is derived from the words "chemical" and "metallurgy." In 1958, KEMET changed its market focus to the tantalum capacitor. In 1969, the company entered the market of ceramic capacitors. In 1990, KEMET Electronics Corporation was acquired from Union Carbide and after two years, the company went public on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...

under the symbol KEM. This ended all ties with Union Carbide. KEMET acquired the

business unit of EPCOS AG in 2007, Evox Rifa Group Oyj and Arcotronics Italia S.p.A. in 2008, Cornell Dubilier Foil, LLC and Niotan Incorporated in 2012. In 2012, the company completed the acquisition of Cornell Dubilier Foil, LLC and Niotan Incorporated. In 2017 the company announced the closing of a deal to purchase a controlling share of NEC Tokin. After the purchase by KEMET concludes on April 10, 2017, NEC Tokin will be renamed "TOKIN Corporation". On November 11, 2019, it was announced that KEMET would be acquired by

Yageo Yageo Corporation(國巨公司) is an American Taiwan-based electronic component manufacturing company, founded in 1977. The company specializes in passive devices — resistors, capacitors and inductors. As of January 2020 they we ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. On June 15, 2020, KEMET became a fully owned subsidiary of Yageo.

Products and services

KEMET Electronics Corporation manufacturers capacitors and other components for computing, telecommunications, medical, aerospace defense, and automotive markets. The Solid Capacitor Business Group produces tantalum and ceramic capacitors. The Film and Electrolytic Business Group sells film, paper, solid organic aluminum electrolytic capacitors, wet aluminum electrolytic capacitors. Tantalum Business Group focuses on tantalum and aluminum capacitors for computing, telecommunications, medical, military, automotive and many other industries. Ceramic Business Group focuses on multilayer

ceramic capacitor A ceramic capacitor is a fixed-value capacitor where the ceramic material acts as the dielectric. It is constructed of two or more alternating layers of ceramic and a metal layer acting as the electrodes. The composition of the ceramic material de ...

s. Film and Electrolytic Business Group focuses on film, paper and wet aluminum

electrolytic capacitor An electrolytic capacitor is a polarized capacitor whose anode or positive plate is made of a metal that forms an insulating oxide layer through anodization. This oxide layer acts as the dielectric of the capacitor. A solid, liquid, or gel el ...

Research and development

In January 2014, KEMET introduced the High Voltage-High Temperature (HV-HT) Series in C0G Dielectric, improving the efficiency over competitive high temperature (200 degree) precious metal electrode (PME) and base metal electrode (BME) ceramic capacitor devices. Oct. 2013 KEMET announced the opening of the new aluminum Electrolytic Innovation Center (EIC) in Weymouth, U.K. Products made from this new center include 20 g High Vibration Screw Terminal capacitors and a Low Inductance product line under Film and Electrolytic Business. In fiscal year 2015, KEMET had 33 PhD scientists, of which 17 were focused on technology, and 501 engineers (about one half of which are in manufacturing and the other half in R&D). KEMET was granted a record number o
20 U.S. patents
in fiscal year 2015.

Awards

In June 2013, KEMET won the Supplier Excellence Award for the Americas, Asia and Europe by TTI. In 2015, KEMET received the Global Operations Excellence Award from TTI.

References

External links

* {{Electronics industry in the United States Electronics companies established in 1919 Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Manufacturing companies based in South Carolina Electronics companies of the United States Simpsonville, South Carolina 1919 establishments in Ohio Capacitor manufacturers