As the current densities continue to increase quite significantly, the temperatures inside these systems also rise, sometimes to as high as 200° C. Therefore, passive components such as capacitors located in the immediate vicinity must be able to resist high thermal loads. The dielectric materials available for high-voltage capacitors and how they behave when subjected to higher temperatures thus limit the power or make it impossible to develop a more compact design of the power electronics module. Against this backdrop, SCHOTT has succeeded in making the glass-ceramics material class usable as a dielectric for high-voltage capacitors for the first time ever. This new type of glass-ceramic offers significant advantages over the ceramics used as dielectrics in the past. For example, the fact that these new glass-ceramics are completely pore-free lends them extremely high dielectric strength of approximately 65 kV/mm. The dielectric material can thus be considerably thinner at a specific voltage. This, in conjunction with the high relative dielectric number, allows for very high capacity values for the capacitors. ”Thanks to these unique properties, the energy storage density can now be increased by a factor of up to 10 compared with conventional capacitor materials,” explains Dr. Martin Letz. The SCHOTT developer also expects to see this advancement be put to use at higher temperatures of up to 200°C and to produce more compact and lighter capacitor designs in the future.  According to Letz, ”The weight can be reduced by roughly 80 percent and it will still offer the same performance.”