Showing posts with label ST. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ST. Show all posts

Friday, June 19, 2009

Award for ST's TPSC806D and STPSC1006D SiC Schottky diodes

SINGAPORE: STMicroelectronics has been awarded an “Electron d’Or 2009” by Electronique Magazine in the ‘power conversion’ category, for its new family of silicon-carbide (SiC) Schottky diodes.

The winner in each award category is determined by an independent jury of recognized experts in the electronics industry, and is selected from products released in the previous year.

“The prestigious ‘Electron d'Or 2009’ award is an important validation of ST’s commitment to provide reliable and high-performance product for power applications,” said Ricardo de Sa Earp, General Manager of the ASD & IPAD product division (Application Specific Devices and Integrated Passive and Active Devices), STMicroelectronics. “We greatly value the recognition from Electronique and the panel of experts from the French electronics industry and are delighted with its selection of our SiC Schottky diodes.”

ST’s STPSC806D and STPSC1006D silicon-carbide diodes employ the latest substrate technology to eliminate power-supply switching losses, improving efficiency and reducing heat.

While ordinary silicon diodes used in switched-mode power supplies lose up to 1 percent efficiency by not turning off immediately, SiC technology is able to deliver greater efficiency because no reverse recovery charge accumulates during the diode’s normal conduction period.

By eliminating this reverse recovery charge, SiC Schottky diodes have much lower switching losses across the board, leading to higher efficiency and lower heat dissipation.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

ST's high-temperature sensitive TRIACs achieve motor control at 150 degrees C

SINGAPORE: STMicroelectronics has introduced the first TRIACs with 10mA gate sensitivity to be specified for operation up to 150 degrees C without derating, enabling low-cost solutions for heaters, motors and other small appliances, through savings in heatsinks, and gate-drive power-supply and snubber circuitry.

The devices introduced are the T410H rated for maximum current of 4A, the 6A T610H, 8A T810H and 10A T1010H. Their low gate current of 10mA allows direct logic-level switching of the TRIAC, which saves component count and reduces the size and cost of the power supply.

In addition, the low gate current maintains high dynamic performance, maintaining specified minimal commutation and 75V/microsecond noise immunity at up to 150 degrees C. This high maximum junction temperature (Tj) allows designers to reduce or remove heatsinks in cost-sensitive designs, increase power density, and enhance reliability at high ambient temperatures.

The new TRIACs are ideal for control of AC loads such as electric heaters, inductive heating equipment, medium-power motors, and other small appliances. At normal operating temperatures, they exceed the performance of similar devices specified for 125 degrees C maximum Tj. All devices are rated up to 600V, for reliable operation in mains-powered systems.

All devices are available in the industry-standard TO-220AB through-hole package, and the T810H and T1010H will also be introduced in the surface-mount D2PAK package.

The launch of these low-gate-current devices extends ST’s introduction of HiTj TRIACs, which began in February 2008 with devices having gate sensitivities of 35mA and 50mA, and current ratings up to 20A.

The T410H, T610H, T810H and T1010H will be priced from $0.40 in quantities of 10,000 pieces, and are in volume production.

Friday, June 5, 2009

New power AC switches feature built-in surge protection

SINGAPORE: Two new families of AC power switches from STMicroelectronics simplify the design of domestic appliances and industrial equipment by integrating surge protection that meets the international standard IEC 61000-4-5, which is usually implemented using external components.

The 10A ACST10 and 12A ACST12 families complete ST’s range for applications from 2A to 12A. They can be used for protecting washing-machine motors, compressors for refrigerators or air-conditioning units, or in industrial drives.

The devices replace conventional electromechanical relays or TRIAC-based power switches, which require additional external components to prevent damage caused by voltage surges in the AC supply or by energy stored in the load.

Several other external components can also be eliminated since the switch input can be connected directly to the appliance’s electronic control unit, whereas a relay or TRIAC typically requires a separate input driver. In addition, designers must usually add components to prevent unpredictable turn-on or turn-off of the motor, but these, also, are not required when using the ACST10 or ACST12.

Package options include the industry-standard through-hole TO-220AB and plastic insulated TO-220FPAB packages for the ACST10 family, and TO-220AB or surface-mount D2PAK for the ACST12 family. The devices are in production now at prices from $0.51 for ACST10 devices and $0.61 for the ACST12 family, for orders over 10,000 units.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

ST advances ultra-low-power linear design with 1.5V op-amps

SINGAPORE: STMicroelectronics has unveiled three new families of precision op-amps targeting low-power and portable products, with power-saving features that include high-speed performance at low supply current, operation from a 1.5V supply, and device-shutdown capability.

Offering low power consumption, high bandwidth and good accuracy, the TSV6xx families serve applications such as portable medical equipment, instrumentation, signal-conditioning systems, sensor interfaces, and active filtering. With high EMI rejection allowing use in electrically noisy environments, high ESD tolerance, and operation over the extended temperature range from –40 to +125 degrees centigrade, the new op-amps can also be used in various types of industrial equipment.

The TSV61x, TSV62x and TSV63x families offer a variety of performance choices in single, dual or quad op-amp configurations. Active current as low as 11-microamps for the TSV61x, 29-microamps for the TSV62x family and 60-microamps for the TSV63x family contributes to system power savings, while the supply-voltage range of 1.5V to 5.5V simplifies low-power design and extends battery life in battery-powered products.

TSV62x and TSV63x offer 420kHz and 880kHz gain-bandwidth-product, respectively. Low input offset voltage (down to 500 micro-volts maximum) and input bias current (1pA) maintain accuracy with small input signals. The TSV62x and TSV63x families also offer shutdown and non-shutdown versions.

All devices have rail-to-rail inputs and outputs to maximize dynamic range, and are housed in tiny packages, including the SC70-5 and SOT23-8, with no shutdown pin, and the SC70-6, SOT23-6, MSO10 for the shutdown versions.

The TSV62x and TSV63x are in full production, priced from $0.22 (single), $0.30 (dual) and $0.47 (quad) for orders of 1000 units. The TSV61x will be released in Q3 2009.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

ST innovates high-voltage transistor technology

SINGAPORE: STMicroelectronics has introduced a new family of power MOSFETs combining higher voltage capability, greater ruggedness, and lower losses than previous devices, which are well suited for use in high-efficiency power supplies for products such as LCD monitors, televisions and energy-saving lamp ballasts.

The STx7N95K3 family introduces a new 950V breakdown-voltage class for power MOSFETs. This new class benefits systems that minimize energy losses by operating at high voltages such as 400V or more. Compared to competing 900V devices, ST’s new 950V power MOSFETs have a larger safe-operating area delivering greater reliability.

Designers can also use a single 950V MOSFET to replace two-transistor circuits sometimes used to build high-voltage supplies, simplifying design, reducing size and lowering component count.

In addition, the STx7N95K3 family has a higher avalanche current rating than competing devices, which ensures greater resilience to surges above the breakdown voltage which cause the device to avalanche. The avalanche-current rating of 9A compares with around 1A for the nearest competing 900V devices.

As well as withstanding higher applied voltages, the STx7N95K3 family also minimizes conduction losses by achieving RDS(ON) of less than 1.35 Ohm. This represents a 30 percent reduction in RDS(ON) per device size compared to previous-generation MOSFETs, and allows designers to increase power density as well as improve efficiency.

At the same time, these new MOSFETs also deliver high switching performance by achieving low gate charge (QG) and low intrinsic capacitance, which allow designers to use higher switching frequencies, enabling the use of smaller components to further enhance efficiency and power density.

STx7N95K3 MOSFETs achieve these performance advantages by using ST’s latest-generation SuperMESH3™ technology. The devices introduced are offered in industry-standard packages including the STF7N95K3 in the TO-220FP package, the STP7N95K3 in standard TO-220, and the STW7N95K3 in TO-247.

The next available devices will be the 950V BVDSS STW25N95K3, STP13N95K3, STD5N95K3 and 1200V BVDSS STP6N120K3. ST will follow these devices with further new product introductions in 2009, including 850V, 950V, 1050V and 1200V ranges.

The STx7N95K3 family is in production, priced at $2.00 in quantities of 1,000 pieces.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

ST, Front Edge to bring next-gen battery technology to new markets

SINGAPORE: STMicroelectronics announced a commercial agreement with Front-Edge Technology (FET), the California-based developer of next-generation rechargeable batteries, enabling ST to bring FET’s NanoEnergy ultra-thin lithium battery technology to a wide range of new markets and applications.

This new technology is meant to fill the gap created by conventional energy-storage devices not keeping pace with the demanding size and high-density power requirements of today’s cutting-edge electronic devices. The new devices, which are destined for consumer and industrial markets, demand innovative energy-storage and battery technologies.

Solid-state thin-film energy cells offer a revolutionary way of storing energy for ‘micro-power’ devices, such as high-end ‘One-Time-Password’ smartcards; battery-assisted RFID tags; wireless sensor networks; real-time clock (RTC) back-up batteries; and multiple medical applications, including hearing aids, automatic insulin pumps and wearable health monitoring systems.

A key advantage of the ultra-thin solid-state battery technology is its physical flexibility, enabling different sizes and shapes of ‘bendable’ batteries, as thin as 200 microns, making it ideal for portable and extremely small form factor devices. Additionally, the battery’s solid electrolyte is Lithium Phosphorus Oxynitride (LiPON), a material originally developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratories. This enables the thin-film FET technology, in comparison with a device with equivalent energy storage capacity, to deliver in the range of 10 to 20 times more power than existing state-of-the-art coin-cell batteries.

FET’s solid-state micro-batteries have been shown to offer longer life, short-circuit prevention for greater safety, and a lower environmental burden than existing battery technologies. Other key characteristics of the FET technology include long cycle life, with more than 1,000 cycles at 50 percent discharge; fast current charge enabling batteries to be charged to 80 percent of rated capacity within 15 minutes; and high stability, with a low self-discharge of less than 15 percent per year.

“There is large and growing gap between the increasingly fast pace of the proliferation and demands of today’s leading-edge portable electronic products and the capabilities of existing energy sources, in performance, operating life and environmental impact,” said Carmelo Papa, Executive Vice President and General Manager of ST’s Industrial and Multisegment Sector (IMS). “As one of the world’s largest and most innovative semiconductor companies, ST has the vision, breadth and market reach to bring FET’s revolutionary ultra-thin battery technology to new industrial and consumer applications.”

“Over the past 10 years, FET has developed NanoEnergy, the highest energy density thin-film battery technology in the industry, and three years ago we began commercially selling NanoEnergy batteries in small volumes,” said Dr. Simon Nieh, President of FET. “We are truly delighted to team up with one of the largest and most innovative global semiconductor companies to address new opportunities in industrial and consumer markets for thin-film batteries.”

ST, which has always been a leader in power technologies, is making significant investments in new energy technologies and nano-materials to develop new miniaturized solutions for energy storage and deliver with a particular emphasis on powering portable electronic products. The R&D group of ST’s Industrial and Multisegment Sector (IMS) organization has been working for several years developing know-how and expertise in the field of micro-batteries and micro fuel cells, and has research teams based in Tours, France, and Catania, Italy, working with research institutes in both those countries.