1. The E2 series IGBT technology from Hitachi Europe employs the company’s new silicon process, which it claims will yield more efficient and effective IGBTs.
2. International rectifier’s newly developed aUIrs2003s 200V IC is designed for low-, mid-, and high-voltage automotive use and battery management apps.
3. lEM introduced the ITl 4000-s current transducer for non-invasive measurement of currents up to 4000arMs in conductors of up to 268mm diameter.
4. Toshiba Electronics Europe unveiled its new range of power MOsFETs, which is optimised for motors used in fans, pumps, and other automotive motion-control applications.
One of the first things you notice about the PCIM Conference and Exhibition in Nuremberg, Germany is this is a show with a heart. Rather than just a random collection of exhibiting companies, this event is more of an intelligence forum for the power electronics community. It’s not one of those “we have to be here so let’s try and grab some orders” events we often experience.
One of the key elements that creates this technical heart is the conference proceedings. Approximately 250 companies attended PCIM this year, and there were 150 or so technical conference papers covering subjects such as:
• Industrial electronics
• Automotive engineering
• Office and data management technologies
• Computers and communications
• Medical technologies
• Telecommunications
• Energy management
So what was latest and greatest at PCIM this year? Hitachi Europe chose the event to launch its new E2 series IGBT technology. A novel silicon process developed by the company is claimed to yield more efficient and effective IGBTs. How so?
These new IGBTs benefit from a newly developed fine pattern silicon process that makes it possible to increase the active cell area. This leads to increased current capability and improved short circuit durability for the IGBTs, claims Hitachi.
Attending the PCIM event from its headquarters in El Segundo, Calif. was power-management specialist International Rectifier (IR). IR unveiled its newly developed AUIRS2003S 200-V IC, which is designed for low- midand high-voltage automotive use. Applications include automotive pre-charge switch and stepper drives and dc-dc converter applications. It can also find homes in battery-management apps.
Qualified to AEC-Q100 standards, the AUIRS2003S is a flexible high-speed power MOSFET driver with dependent high- and low-side referenced output channels that can cope with harsh automotive environments and hot under-thehood applications.
The output drivers feature a high pulse current buffer stage designed for minimum driver cross-conduction, while the floating channel can be used to drive an N-channel power MOSFET in the high-side configuration operating up to 200V. Furthermore, low quiescent current makes possible a low-cost bootstrap power supply for the high-side circuitry.
Commenting on the product, Henning Hauenstein, vice president of IR’s Automotive Products, said: “With its host of protection features, the AUIRS2003S is designed to provide a rugged and flexible driver IC solution specifically designed to meet the challenge of automotive powertrain and battery-management applications.”
The AUIRS2003S features highside output in phase with the input signal and low-side output out of phase with the input signal. The new device accepts input logic levels of 3.3V, 5V, and 15V with standard CMOS or LSTTL outputs. It offers a comprehensive set of protection features, including undervoltage lockout (UVLO), deadtime protection, and negative voltage spike (VS) immunity to protect against catastrophic events during high-current switching and short-circuit conditions.
NON-INVASIVE MEASUREMENT
A regular attendee at the event, LEM introduced the ITL 4000-S current transducer for non-invasive measurement of currents up to 4000ARMS in conductors measuring up to 268mm diameter. The new transducer allows the isolated measurement of ac, dc, and pulsed currents, up to three times the nominal value for peak measurement at frequencies up to 50kHz (±1dB).
Using closed-loop Fluxgate technology, highly accurate measurements of ±0.1% of IPN are achieved over the operating temperature range from −40°C to +70°C. This high level of accuracy also allows the measurement of small dc currents in the presence of large ac components, which is particularly useful in applications such as transformer protection.
For example, it’s possible to monitor ±10A dc over a 4000A rms ac current with an uncertainty of ±1A over an operating temperature range from −25°C to +50°C. The technology also offers good offset and gain thermal drift performance.
The large aperture of the ITL 4000-S suits it particularly well for measurements on high-voltage dc systems, which use large-diameter cables. It features high insulation for working voltages up to 1.5kV rms in accordance with the EN 50178 standard.
The mechanical design of the transducer offers simplified access to the electronics for easy maintenance. This often avoids the need to disconnect the conductors in the final application.
The ITL 4000-S operates from a bipolar ±24V supply, provides an analogue current output, and fits all industrial applications as qualified against the EN 50178 industrial standard. It’s particularly suitable for dc current control in transformers, or in offshore wind turbines for dc power transmission, or for leakage current measurement in any application with high primary currents.
MINI-FOM MOSFETs
Toshiba Electronics Europe (TEE) unveiled its new range of power MOSFETs that is optimised for motors used in fans, pumps, and other automotive motion-control applications. The latest MOSFETs combine both on-resistance and input capacitance ratings with a package design that offers good thermal dissipation and power cycling capabilities.
Available with maximum voltage (VDSS) and current (ID) ratings of 60V and 150A, Toshiba’s new MOSFETs are based on the company’s latest U-MOS trench semiconductor technology (Fig. 4). This technology contributes to typical RDS(ON) specifications as low as 1.7mΩ and typical input capacitances (CISS) down to 4500pF. As a result, claims the company, the devices are able to offer the industry’s smallest RDS(ON) gate charge (Qg) “figure of merit.”
All of the new MOSFETs are supplied in Toshiba’s TO220SM(W) package. This uses copper connectors and a wide source terminal to drive down RDS(ON) and package inductance, reduce thermal resistance, and ensure high currentcarrying capacity. The package is qualified to AEC-Q101 at a channel temperature of 175ºC. A thickness of 3.7mm means that it’s 21% thinner than existing TO-220SM package technology.
Toshiba’s current lineup of TO220SM(W) automotive MOSFETs comprises five devices with respective current/voltage ratings of −60V/−120A
(TJ120F06J3); 40V/100A
(TK100F04K3); 40V/150A
(TK150F04K3); 60V/100A
(TK100F06K3); and 60V/130A
(TK130F06K3). Typical RDS(ON) ratings range from 1.7 to 5.5mΩ, while typical CISS and Qg ratings range from 4500pF and 98nC to 11500pF and 258nC.
PSR PWM CONTROLLERS Finally, Fairchild Semiconductor says it’s addressed a need in the high-brightness (HB) light-emittingdiode (LED) market with its primaryside- regulation (PSR) pulse-widthmodulation (PWM) controllers. The company believes these devices will ultimately simplify design and cut board space.
The FAN100 and FSEZ1016A are EZSWITCH PSR PWM controllers that integrate a primary-side regulation pulse-width-modulation controller with a power MOSFET. Through this integration, these controllers are able to achieve an accurate constant current through their integral proprietary Truecurrent technology and tight constant voltage without using secondary- side feedback circuitry.
By tightening the constant current over a voltage range, the same circuit can accommodate different numbers of LED units in a string. With such a level of integration, these PSR pulse-width-modulation controllers conserve board space, accommodating the form factor of lamp cases that continue to diminish in size.