noble metal electrode (NME)

In the contacting of multilayer ceramic capacitors( MLCC), the electrodes arranged in layers are connected with a contact material. In the past, precious metal contacts made of silver( Ag) and palladium( Pd) were used for this purpose. These precious metal electrodes are referred to in English as Noble Metal Electrodes (NME). Later, cheaper metals were used for cost reasons. These contacting materials are called Base Metal Electrode (BME).

Since the new materials changed some capacitor characteristics, the NME contacting is used for ceramic capacitors of EIA class 1, the BME contacting for those of EIA class 2.