electronics in motion and conversion august 2011automotive and industrial applications will be...
TRANSCRIPT
ZKZ 64717
08-11ISSN: 1863-5598
Electronics in Motion and Conversion August 2011
SKiN TechnologyWire bond-free
Reliable and space-savingpackaging technology forpower semiconductors
Free from thermal paste and solder
10 x higher power cycling
Current density of power unitdoubled: 3 A/cm2
For 35% smaller inverters
Standard Technology
Australia +61 3-85 61 56 00 Brasil +55 11-41 86 95 00 Cesko +420 37 80 51 400 China +852 34 26 33 66 Deutschland +49 911-65 59-0 España +34 9 36 33 58 90 France +33 1-30 86 80 00 India +91 222 76 28 600 Italia +39 06-9 11 42 41 Japan +81 68 95 13 96 Korea +82 32-3 46 28 30 Mexico +52 55-53 00 11 51 Nederland +31 55-5 29 52 95 Österreich +43 1-58 63 65 80 Polska +48 22-6 15 79 84 Russia +7 38 33 55 58 69 Schweiz +41 44-9 14 13 33 Slovensko +421 3 37 97 03 05 Suid-Afrika +27 12-3 45 60 60 Suomi +358 9-7 74 38 80 Sverige +46 8-59 4768 50 Türkiye +90 21 6-688 32 88 United Kingdom +44 19 92-58 46 77 USA +1 603-8 83 81 02 [email protected] www.semikron.com
C O N T E N T S
Viewpoint
Improvement of Semiconductors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-12
PCIM Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Blue Product of the Month
Energy$ense™ Family of Multi-Rail DC/DC DPMUs
Akros Silicon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Guest Editorial
Specific Market Challenges and Trends
Require Tailor-made Solutions
By Peter Sontheimer, Vice President R&D and Product Marketing,Vincotech GmbH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Market
Electronics Industry Digest
By Aubrey Dunford, Europartners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Market
Smart Grid Will Drive AC-DC Power Supply Growth
By Linnea Brush, Senior Analyst, Darnell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22-23
Cover Story
Driving Zero Emissions by SCALE-2
By Jan Thalheim, Olivier Garcia and Dominik Frauenfelder, CT-Concept Technologie AG, Switzerland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-26
DC/DC Converter
New Power Topology Propels Quarter-Brick Bus Converter
to Benchmark Power Density
By Jeff Smoot, VP of Engineering, CUI Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28-31
Magnetic Components
High Efficiency PFC Choke Designed for PFC Chipset Application
By Pau Colomer, Premo IC Product Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Power Quality
An Innovative, Simple, Green PFC Solution
By Edward Ong, Product Marketing Manager, Power Integrations, Inc. (San Jose, CA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34-37
Capacitors
Storage Capacitor Properties and their Effect
on Energy Harvester Performance
By Radovan Faltus, Miroslav Jane, Tomas Zednicek, Technical Marketing, AVX spol.s.r.o. Czech Republic . . . . . . . . 38-42
Measurement
Safe Inspection of Dangerous Voids
By Jens Kokott, Senior Manager Optical Inspection, Göpel . . . 44-45
Design and Simulation
Design for Life
By Paul Horner, Managing Director of Advance Product Services Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46-51
New Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52-56
Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com2
TThhee GGaalllleerryy
Fairchild’s Board of Directors announces:
Foundation of Technology Development Centre forHigh-Voltage Semiconductors in Munich
The scope of this team includes
1 Device and process simulation1 Design and layout experts1 Characterization and testing lab1 Experts for process integration, device architecture,
novel materials and module development
For the initial phase, we have opened positions for:
We offer:1 Start-up spirit in highly inspirational and expanding team in Muenchen 1 Space for fundamental and scientific research 1 Very competitive, performance oriented compensation schemes1 High strategic impact and visibility within a global company
The mission of this team is to advance Fairchild’s Technologyand product portfolio for High Voltage applications forIndustrial, Automotive and Consumer markets to take overthe leading edge position.
This newly formed R&D centre, located in Munich, providesopportunities to their members to closely work with existingglobal Fairchild Technologists in US, Sweden and Korea, aswell as to work in partnerships with Research institutes andhand selected partnership programs with competitors.
Device Simulation Experts
Job description:You are responsible to develop andoptimize device architecture for Fairchildsnext generation IGBT generations,optimize static and dynamic deviceperformance and work with local andKorean process experts to createprototypes.
Job requirement:We are looking for highly innovative andself-motivated individuals, Master or PhDdegree in Electrical engineering, Physics orsimilar, fluency in English required.At least 4 years experience in High VoltageDiscrete device development, using stateof the art simulation software, preferablySynopsis TCAD process and devicesimulators. Solid knowledge of state-of-theart IGBT device architecture required. 3Dsimulation, device layout experience andpackaging know-how is of advantage butnot mandatory.
Device Modelling Experts
Job description:You will be spearheading a team for device parameter extraction and modellingincluding behavioural and (semi)-mathematical models for High Voltagedevices. Near term emphasis is put onTrench IGBT and Superjunction MOSFETdevelopments.
Job requirement:We are looking for highly innovative andself-motivated individuals with Master orPhD degree in Electrical engineering, Physics or similar; fluency in Englishrequired.At least 3 years experience in High Voltagedevice test keys drawings, parameter extraction and device modelling. PSPICE -equivalent circuit and knowledge of electro-thermal behaviour for Power devices is required. Device layout experience would be beneficial.
IGBT Technologist
Job description:You will be shaping a global team with thedistinct focus in IGBT development,focussing on device architecture, newprocess modules and innovative packagesolutions for automotive and industrialapplications.
Job requirement:We are looking for a senior technology expert with Master or PhD degree in Electrical engineering, Physics or similarwith profound semiconductor backgroundin the field of high-voltage technology.You need to have at least 10 years experience in IGBT development, wideknowledge of process, device and package topics. Experience with HV-MOSFETS, Superjunction, GTO’s orIGCT’s as well as experience on specificautomotive and industrial applications willbe preferred.
Contact:Dr. Thomas NeyerVice President and Fellow of Fairchild SemiconductorHead of the Fairchild Technology Center in Munich
Contact:
Tel.: +49 (8141) 6102 - 172eMail.: [email protected]
4 Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
Renewable energy generation must have
intelligent semiconductors to control and dis-
tribute electrical energy in an efficient way.
Innovations in power semiconductors have
paved the way to make this happen. The
IGBT has been the most successful switch
design for higher voltages and lower losses.
Since the early 80s, all power semiconductor
manufacturers have developed IGBTs with
more or less success. The successful ones
offer a wide variety of highly efficient switch-
es in both discrete and module packaging.
Over the years, losses were reduced and
switching behavior improved. IGBT designs
reached new levels of breakdown voltages
and a few kV are now standard for high
speed train applications. Short circuit with-
stand time has been brought to practical lev-
els for motion applications. Specialized
designs perform ignition in most automobiles
helping to improve gas mileage. Combined
IGBTs and anti-parallel diodes outperform
MOSFETs in motion applications and the
use of SIC diodes are able to reduce switch-
ing losses even further.
We look forward to wide band semiconduc-
tor designs that will cover higher voltages, at
least the line voltage requirements. A num-
ber of designs are underway for commercial
practical designs. We will see both SIC and
GaN playing a role in more efficient designs.
Our world has to be careful with its
resources and all the energy we don’t waste
will lead to reduced generation.
Germany has decided on a total phase-out
of nuclear power generation. German politi-
cians understood the risks and dangers of
nuclear power and took action. It is our chal-
lenge to develop renewable energy and to
reduce consumption. Germany is in the pole
position for the future export of green power
solutions. An important aspect of the total
solution lies in packaging and mounting
technology. Companies like Semikron have
invested strongly in the future and the Ger-
man position for them is a perfect situation.
The IGBT, still the workhorse in the process,
will become 30 years old on the 14th of
December, 2012, based on Patent No.
4,364,073 which was filed in March 1980
and issued to Hans W. Becke and C. Frank
Wheatley, Jr. Even as a young technology,
the IGBT had a huge potential for energy
savings. We need engineers to solve the
challenges of the future. Frank gave me a lot
of technical insight as I first introduced
IGBTs in the early days of inverter design in
Europe. My network of great friends, some
of whom have made history in semiconduc-
tors, helps me stay tuned to leading edge
information for my readers.
Summer will turn to autumn and we will be
back to work after vacation. We have
enjoyed the seasonal vegetables and fruits,
like asparagus and strawberries. Time flies
and soon it will be Indian summer, with more
important conferences and shows. Just look
at the events list on this page, or on my
website, or in my e-newsletter – all ways to
access the information my publication pro-
vides. Communication is the only way to
progress. My magazine provides information
to all of you, including those for whom travel
to relevant trade shows is not possible. We
have now delivered seven issues this year,
with 506 pages of information - on time,
every time. As a media partner, Bodo’s
Power Systems is internationally positioned
and represented at more than two dozen
shows and conferences worldwide.
My Green Power Tip for August:
Harvest the fruit in your garden and make
jam. By doing so you’ll avoid buying jam
made from berries that have made a long
journey from wherever they were grown. It is
also a nice little gift for friends to enjoy at
breakfast.
Looking forward to seeing you at one of the
next shows!
Best Regards
Improvements inSemiconductors
V I E W P O I N T
A MediaKatzbek 17a
D-24235 Laboe, Germany
Phone: +49 4343 42 17 90
Fax: +49 4343 42 17 89
www.bodospower.com
Publishing EditorBodo Arlt, [email protected]
Creative Direction & ProductionRepro Studio Peschke
Free Subscription to qualified readers
Bodo´s Power Systems
is available for the following
subscription charges:
Annual charge (12 issues) is 150 €
world wide
Single issue is 18 €
circulation print run
20000
Printing by:
Central-Druck Trost GmbH & Co
Heusenstamm, Germany
A Media and Bodos Power Systems
assume and hereby disclaim any
liability to any person for any loss or
damage by errors or omissions in the
material contained herein regardless of
whether such errors result from
negligence accident or any other cause
whatsoever.
EventsEPE, Birmingham,
Aug. 30th –Sept.1st www.epe2011.com
Solar Energy, Hamburg, Germany Sep. 5th –9th
www.photovoltaic-conference.com
ECCE2011, Phoenix, AZ,
Sept. 17th -22nd www.ecce2011.org
Darnell’s Power Forum, Silicon Valley, CA Sept. 26th -28th
http://DPF.Darnell.com
LED Symposium+Expo, Bregenz, Austria, Sep. 27th -29th
www.lps2011.com
Electric Drives Production Conference Nuremberg,
Sept. 28th-29th http://edpc.eu
ESREF, Bordeaux, France,
October 3rd -7th www.esref.org
Semicon Europa,Dresden, Germany October 11th -13th
www.semiconeuropa.org/
eCarTec, Munich, Germany,
October 19th -20th www.ecartec.de
Smart Grid Electronics Forum,San Jose, CA Oct. 24th -26th
http://SmartGrid.Darnell.com
Two nominal current ranges: 0.3 and 0.6 ARMS
Printed circuit mounting
Large 20.1 mm diameter aperture
Available with primary inserted conductor
+5 V single supply
Up to 11 mm creepage and clearance distances
+ CTI 600 for high insulation
Low offset drift
–40 to +105° C operation
Reference Voltage access and control
Self-test and degauss
High overload capability: 3300 A
www.lem.com At the heart of power electronics.
Solar energy committed to a lifetime of safety and performance
LEM commits to renewable energy sources of the future by enabling control and ensuring
safety of today’s solar power solutions. CTSR transducers combine safety and performance,
accurately measuring small AC and DC leakage currents. Easy installation for single or three
phase residual current measurement: CTSR is today’s choice for the energy of tomorrow.
CTSR
6 Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
N E W S
Coinciding with the 60th anniversary of Semikron the company fur-
ther expands its headquarters in Nuremberg. A state-of-the-art logis-
tics centre with an utilisation area of 12 300 m² is added to the total
area of 42 000 m². With this latest development Semikron is geared
for the expected future growth. During 2010 and 2011 a total of €114
million has been invested in the expansion of production areas and
equipment worldwide. The opening ceremony took place on Tuesday,
12 July 2011.
Marking its 60th anniversary, Semikron announced a turnover of €
545 million for the business year 2010. This is an increase of 68%
compared to 2009. Since the first diode/ thyristor module was devel-
oped and presented to the market in 1975, Semikron has been the
market leader in this sector. According to IMS Research, “The global
power semiconductor market 2010”, the company still leads with a
market share of 30%.
31% of the turnover is generated from the renewable energies mar-
ket which has more than doubled over the last three years, following
the drives market with a share of thirty five percent. Semikron devel-
oped the first IGBT modules for use in wind turbines the beginning of
the 1990´s. These modules featured innovative pressure contact
technology, integrated power, driver and sensor functions and met
the challenges posed by this entirely new area of application in terms
of long-term reliability and power density.
The experience in the electric hybrid vehicle market also dates back
to the early 1990`s, long before the German government announced
that one million passenger cars must be electrically driven by 2020.
In 2010 Semikron introduced Skai, the most compact power electron-
ic systems for hybrid and electric vehicles for use in the agricultural
industry, construction industry, materials handling and battery-pow-
ered vehicles of any kind. The dedication to this market is evident in
partner cooperations with Compact Dynamics and Drivetek and the
100% take-over of Vepoint. 560.000 electric fork lifts and 8.250
hybrid busses are powered by Semikron technology.
In May this year a revolutionary packaging technology for power
semiconductors which does away with bond wires, solders and ther-
mal paste was launched. This reliable and space-saving technology
is the optimum solution for vehicle and wind power applications, mar-
kets with a high growth rate.
The family business started from humble beginnings in Nuremberg in
1951 but has established itself as a global player and power electron-
ics innovator to be reckoned with in this industry: 3.600 employees,
35 companies, 10 production sites and market leader in diode/thyris-
tor modules for thirty six years.
“We set the trend, we do not imitate is our philosophy”, states Dirk
Heidenreich, CEO of Semikron International. To guarantee the further
growth Semikron has increased the number of employees from 2.700
in 2009 to 3.600 in 2011, in Nuremberg from 1.190 to 1.500.
One of the driving forces behind this growth over the past 60 years is
contributed to the continuity in management. But also the continuious
striving for innovations in power electronics, specifically packaging
technologies for power electronic modules which allows for higher
efficiency, reliability and decreased size - green technologies dealing
with energy generation and conversion.
www.semikron.com
Geared for Further Growth
Dirk Heidenreich, CEO, Peter Frey, COO and Dr. Thomas Stockmeier, CTO
LEM, the market leader in providing innovative and high quality solu-
tions for measuring electrical parameters announces an extended
sales partnership with SIGNALTEC. The agreement will grow the
sales of the LEM Danfysik high precision current transducers in the
test and measurement market in Europe.
SIGNALTEC focuses on power and efficiency analysis and provides
its own multi-channel solutions for motor, transformer and inverter
analysis. The company has its own sales network with partners in
many European countries.
The analysis of motor or inverter power losses is one of the most
challenging tasks in power electronics and drives development. The
LEM Danfysik high precision current transducers offer outstanding
high amplitude accuracy and extremely low phase shift, providing the
best solution for extending the range of power meters in the test and
measurement field.
The product range covers transducers for nominal current measure-
ments from 60 A to 25 kA providing a typical overall accuracy of less
than 0.01 %. Thermal offset drifts are extremely low, from only 0.1 to
2 ppm/K. Models from 2 kA to 25 kA are for panel or rack mounting.
Featuring galvanic isolation, all components can be used for current
measurement of any kind of waveforms (including DC, AC, mixed
and complex) without any contact to the conductor.
www.signaltec.com
www.lem.com
Partnership Agreement for Power Electronics Analysis
New 3.3kV SCALE-2 IGBT Driver CoreThe new dual-channel IGBT driver core 2SC0535T for high voltage IGBT modules eases the design of high power inverters. Using this highly integrated device ����������� ����������������������������������design cycle and reduces the engineering risk. Beside the cost advantage resulting from the SCALE-2 ASIC �������������������������������������������-������ ���������� ��� ����� ��� �������� ��� �����interfaces. The driver is equipped with a transformer technology to operate from -55°..+85°C with its full performance and no derating. All important traction ���������������������� ���
FeaturesHighly integrated dual channel IGBT driver2-level and multilevel topologies����������������������� !!"Operating temperature -55..+85°C<100ns delay time±4ns jitter±35A gate current Isolated DC/DC converter#�$%��������&��Regulated gate-emitter voltageSupply under-voltage lockoutShort-circuit protection'����������������������������Meets EN50124 and IEC60077UL compliant75 USD @ 1000 pieces
www.IGBT-Driver.com
SAMPLES AVAILABLE!
CT-Concept Technologie AG, Renferstrasse 15, CH-2504 Biel, Switzerland, Phone +41-32-344 47 47
2SC0535T2A0-33
Taming the Beast
8 Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
N E W S
Recom, a pioneer for constant current
LED-drivers, substantially extended its
product portfolio recently and now suc-
ceeded to enlist the services of
Stephan Wegstein as Marketing Direc-
tor Lighting, effective June 1, 2011.
“Lighting-products offer enormous
growth. We will therefore continue to
further develop our driver portfolio,
especially for innovative „High-Bright-
ness“-LEDs, says Karsten Bier, CEO of
the RECOM-group of companies. For us it is of strategic importance
to transform this segment into an independent business unit. Karsten
Bier continues: “our aim is to grow disproportionally in the Lighting-
Area without compromising our core business”. With this in mind
RECOM is happy to have secured the services of Stephan Wegstein,
a dedicated expert in the lighting industry.
Stephan Wegstein holds a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering
from Technical University Darmstadt and has been active in the
power business since the late 1990s.
www.recom-electronic.com
Intensified Lighting-Activities
Intersil Corporation announced it has been named the Quanta Com-
puter Supplier of the Year for its role in delivering best-in-class per-
formance, service, operational excellence, product quality and leader-
ship in power management technology. The award recognizes Intersil
as a strategic and preferred supplier to Quanta, the world’s largest
notebook ODM manufacturer.
“We are delighted to receive this award from Quanta Computer,” said
Sagar Pushpala, Intersil’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Opera-
tions and Technology. “To receive an award from Quanta Computer,
recognizing us as one of their strategic and preferred suppliers, is not
only an honor but a tribute to the hard work and dedication shown by
the entire Intersil team. We look forward to working closely with
Quanta in the years to come, providing them with quality products
and solutions.”
www.intersil.com
Supplier of the Year by Quanta Computer
Kontron AG positions itself in key future
technologies. Smart grids technology agree-
ment concluded with largest Russian elec-
tricity network operator.
As announced by the company's CEO, a
long-term technology agreement has been
signed in St. Petersburg with the Federal
Grid Company of the Unified Energy System
(FGC UES), the largest operator of energy
supply networks in Russia.
The agreement that was concluded between
FGC UES and Kontron's Russian subsidiary
RTSoft envisages close cooperation in the
area of so-called smart grids, among other
areas. It will entail the development of joint
new hardware and software solutions to
boost the reliability and efficiency of Russian
electricity supplies. Kontron is also to pro-
duce and supply the systems and solutions
that are developed. "A switch towards smart
grids is also underway in Russia.
www.kontron.com
Smart Grids and Services
They determine the performance of power
converters and allow topologies with high
efficiency. Semiconductor properties, pn-
junctions and the physical phenomena for
understanding power devices are discussed
in depth. Working principles of state-of-the-
art power diodes, thyristors, MOSFETs and
IGBTs are explained in detail, as well as key
aspects of semiconductor device production
technology. In practice, not only the semi-
conductor, but also the thermal and mechan-
ical properties of packaging and interconnec-
tion technologies are essential to predict
device behavior in circuits. Wear and aging
mechanisms are identified and reliability
analyses principles are developed. Unique
information on destructive mechanisms,
including typical failure pictures, allows
assessment of the ruggedness of power
devices. Also parasitic effects, such as
device induced electromagnetic interference
problems, are addressed. The book con-
cludes with modern power electronic system
integration techniques and trends.
This book has been written by highly recog-
nized experts in device development, device
theory, device integration methods, and
application aspects for power electronics. It
covers all important types of semiconductor
power devices, and it treats important
aspects of reliability, robustness and EMI
problems. For device specialists, it presents
a really useful theoretical base, and for
power electronics specialists, it contains the
essential information’s on device structures
and properties.
Prof. Dieter Silber, University of Bremen defi-
nitely recommend this book for all students
and engineers involved in power electronics.
www.springer.com
Semiconductor Power Devices are the Heart of Power Electronics
1 23
Semiconductor Power Devices
Josef LutzHeinrich SchlangenottoUwe ScheuermannRik De Doncker
Physics, Characteristics, Reliability
N W E S
9www.bodospower.com August 2011 Bodo´s Power Systems®
Dr. Arthur H. Rosen-
feld of the USA and
Dr. Philipp Rutberg
of Russia have
been presented with
the 2011 Global
Energy Prize, which
rewards innovation
and solutions in
global energy
research and its
concurrent environ-
mental challenges.
The Prize was given
to the scientists on
Friday by Russian
President Dmitry
Medvedev in an offi-
cial ceremony which
took place as part
of the St Petersburg
International Eco-
nomic Forum.
The Global Energy Prize is one of the world’s most respected awards
in energy science, awarding 33 million roubles (approx. US$1.17m)
each year for outstanding energy achievements and innovations. The
prize will be equally shared between the two Laureates. Dr. Rosen-
feld was awarded for his contribution to the development of the ener-
gy efficiency sector, while Dr. Rutberg was recognized for developing
plasma technology which can be used to create energy from waste
materials.
Dr. Rosenfeld, 84, is a UC Berkeley physicist who served on the Cali-
fornia Energy Commission for ten years, and is most well-known for
his groundbreaking work in energy efficiency. Motivated by the 1973
oil crisis, he switched his career focus from experimental nuclear and
particle physics to energy efficiency. He proposed rigorous energy
efficiency standards for new homes, businesses and industrial build-
ings in California, and helped develop ways to meet these, together
with colleagues at the Center for Building Science which he founded
at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His technological innova-
tions include energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs and
reflective roof-coatings which reduce air-conditioning costs.
Dr. Philipp Rutberg is a Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
and Director of the Institute for Electrophysics and Electric Power in
St Petersburg. Throughout his career he has worked to develop high
power plasma technologies which can convert waste materials into
synthetic fuels, with minimal harmful emissions. Using this technolo-
gy, a town of around 30,000 people could supply all its heating needs
and a portion of its electricity needs using domestic waste as a power
source – providing a single solution to both garbage disposal and
energy supply issues. Dr. Rutberg has repeatedly spoken out against
the construction of landfills, and on the need to invest in science and
innovation, particularly where it concerns the environment.
www.globalenergyprize.org/en/
US and Russian Scientists Awarded Global Energy Prize
This year the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE)
celebrates its 30th anniversary. What began as a vision of Professor
Adolf Goetzberger, the Institute’s founder, has long become a reality.
Founded on July 1, 1981 in Freiburg with 24 pioneers of solar
research, Fraunhofer ISE today has developed into the largest solar
research institute in Europe with over 1100 employees. Worldwide it
is one of the primary initiators of a 100 percent renewable energy
supply and an important research partner towards this goal. The
Institute celebrated its historical success story with a festive gala for
invited guests.
www.ise.fraunhofer.de
Fraunhofer ISE Celebrates 30 Years of Solar Research
The entire spectrum of conferences, lectures and courses at SEMI-
CON Europa is exceptional. There is no better place to learn about
current topics from top speakers representing all segments of the
European semiconductor industry.
The SEMI Europa team, together with its supporting committees,
looks for the hottest topics, the latest challenges and opportunities
and then finds the real experts to address these issues. The result:
41 outstanding sessions, workshops and events!
From the latest market developments, technology trends and corpo-
rate strategies to front-end and back-end, MEMS, HB-LED and
recent developments of the 450 mm wafer - it's all here at SEMICON
Europa.
www.semiconeuropa.org/ProgramsandEvents
SEMICON Conference Details Online!
Richardson RFPD, Inc. announced it has entered into a global distri-
bution agreement with Kendeil, S.r.l, a manufacturer of screw termi-
nal and snap-in type aluminum electrolytic capacitors headquartered
in Gallarate (VA), Italy. A high-quality manufacturer for more than 30
years, Kendeil’s extensive product offering is used in virtually all
high-power inverter applications, such as wind and solar power,
industrial motor drives, battery chargers, etc. Kendeil is also develop-
ing a line of large-size polypropylene film power capacitors scheduled
for release in the next 6-9 months.
www.Kendeil.com
www.richardsonrfpd.com
Improve Lead Times for Large-Size Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors
10 Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
N E W S
Richardson RFPD, Inc. announced that for the second consecutive
year, it has received the “Top Distributor of the Year” award from
TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc., a leading RF solutions supplier and
technology innovator.
“It is very gratifying to win this award two years in a row from one of
our top suppliers,” said Greg Peloquin, President of Richardson
RFPD. “TriQuint’s broad portfolio of leading-edge technology prod-
ucts, combined with our global strategy of engineer-focused distribu-
tion continues to drive numerous design wins.”
The award recognizes Richardson RFPD’s overall contribution to
TriQuint's growth, including high level of responsiveness to cus-
tomers, increasing design wins, and technical support. Award winners
were chosen based on nominations by members of TriQuint’s execu-
tive sales team and announced at TriQuint’s 2011 sales conference.
www.richardsonrfpd.com
Top Distributor Award for 2010 from TriQuint Semiconductor
Power semiconductor manufacturer Semikron can now be reached
everywhere and at any time. Users can find a mobile version of the
company’s website at mobile.semikron.com that provides fast and easy
access to technical details, products, contact partners and jobs. Semi-
kron takes the lead once again, providing power electronics engineers
and job-seekers with a modern means of gaining information.
The product and parameter search known from the main website,
which can be used to select technical details on current, voltage, cir-
cuitry, case and semiconductor type, has been optimized for the
small screen dimensions of mobile devices.
www.mobile.semikron.com
Semikron.com for Smartphones
OM Group, Inc. announced that it has
signed a definitive agreement to purchase
Vacuumschmelze GmbH & Co. KG (VAC) of
Hanau, Germany, a global market leader in
advanced materials and specialty magnetics,
for approximately euro 700 million, including
$50 million in common stock equity.
Founded in 1923, VAC is widely regarded as
one of the premier designers, producers and
marketers of the world's most technologically
advanced materials and technologies, cores
and components, and permanent magnets
for electronic equipment markets, including
the alternative energy, automotive, electric
vehicles, electrical installation, and energy
conversion and distribution segments.
www.omgi.com
Acquisition of Vacuumschmelze
An international conference highlighting the latest developments and
technologies in the battery industry, will be held September 20-21 in
Nashville, Tennessee.
This ninth annual event will feature more than 30 presentations on
portable, stationary and automotive battery technology, as well as bat-
tery manufacturing, materials and research & development. Topics will
include new battery designs, emerging technologies, battery materials,
power management, charging and testing systems, battery health, as
well as the latest market trends affecting the industry.
The conference is designed for OEM design engineers, system engi-
neers, technical and management professionals involved in battery
powered products and systems, battery manufacturing, battery technol-
ogy research and development and power management technology.
Battery Power 2011 will provide you with the most up-to-date devel-
opments and technologies in the battery and power management
market. If you are involved in the battery industry or if your products
and systems run on batteries, this is a must attend event.
Battery Power 2011 will be co-located with other industry-leading
conferences: Advancements in Thermal Management, Remote 2011,
Antenna Systems and Technology 2011, Energy Efficiency Expo and
EMCW. The events will share a combined exhibit hall floor, which is
open to all attendees.
www.batterypoweronline.com
Battery Power 2011 September 20-21 in Nashville
ZMD AG (ZMDI), a global supplier of ener-
gy-efficient analog and mixed-signal solu-
tions for automotive, industrial, and medical
applications, and Power-One, a leading
provider of renewable energy and energy-
efficient power conversion and power man-
agement solutions, entered into a non-
exclusive, worldwide, field of use agree-
ment for Digital Power Technology (DPT)
patents from Power-One. The agreement
licenses certain of Power-One's digital power technology ("DPT")
patents to ZMDI, which will design and manufacture smart power
management controller for modular digital point of loads ("POLs") for
board mounted applications using the licensed DPT. ZMDI and
Power-One also signed a development agreement by which ZMDI
will develop and manufacture Power-One's next generation IC-solu-
tion for its energy-efficient power conversion products.
www.power-one.com
www.zmdi.com
Digital Power Management Development and Patent License Agreement
www.bodospower.com August 2011
As summer begins, Heinz Kundert is
pleased to report several items of good
news. The first one relates to the active lob-
bying activities that continue with the on-
going support of the members and partners.
On 28 June 2011, the European Commis-
sion Key Enabling Technologies (KET) High-
Level Group (HLG) presented its final report.
The initiative started 13 July 2010 after SEMI
released its SEMI White Paper titled "Six
Recommendations to the European Union
and National Governments to Increase
Europe’s Microelectronic Industry Competi-
tiveness." The chairman of the SEMI
Europe Advisory Board is a member of the
High-Level Group. In addition, SEMI is highly
engaged with the European Commission
through individual high-level meetings as
well as exchange forums. Every year, the
SEMI office in Brussels has over 140 inter-
actions with the EU to voice the interests of
the semiconductor equipment and materials
industry. SEMI will continue to monitor the
development and implementation process of
the KET on behalf of its members. This topic
will be further discussed at the SEMICON
Europa 11-13 October in Dresden.
www.semiconeuropa.org
Time for Good News from SEMI
Not only will the developers, buyers, users,
system service providers, distributors etc. be
meeting at the LED professional Symposium
+ Expo 2011 in Bregenz, Austria from Sep-
tember 27 -29, 2011, many of these experts
from the fields of application and research
will be attending the accompanying sympo-
sium. The conference will be covering topics
like efficiency, reliability, costs, tests, stan-
dardization and much more.
A wide range of lectures: The range of lec-
tures at the LpS 2011 conference covers
practically the entire scope of topics in the
field of Solid State.
Three Keynote Speeches: The first day will
begin with a first class workshop led by Prof.
DDr. Sergei Ikovenko on the topic of “Win-
ning Approaches in LED Lighting – Disrup-
tive Innovation Technology”. Part II will be
held after lunch and led by Jamie Fox. This
will cover the topic of “Latest LED Market
Research”. It will be rounded off by Profes-
sor Ikovenko and Jamie Fox in Part III where
“Innovation and Market Drivers” will be the
subject.
Technology and Components: The theme on
the second day of the symposium is LED-
technologies. Topics like “High Optical
Power Warm White LED Technology for Illu-
mination” by Dr. Decai Sun of Philips
Lumileds, “Silicon-Based Wafer-Level Pack-
aging for Cost Reduction of High Brightness
LEDs” presented by Dr. Thomas Uhrmann of
the EV Group Europe & Asia Pacific.
Manufacturing, LED Systems, Standardiza-
tion and more: Session V on day three of the
symposium is titled “Measurement, Testing
and Manufacturing”. Peter Läpple of Instru-
ment Systems in Germany will open the day
with his lecture about “Metrology of White
Light LEDs” followed by “Calibration and
Quality Control of Multi-Color LED Lighting
Systems” presented by Jürgen Weißhaar
from Opsira, Germany.
www.lps2011.com
LED-Lighting Technology in 30 Lectures
BICRON® [email protected] 1 860 824 [email protected] +49(0)2871 7374
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Bicron transformers deliver:
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BICRON® Gate DriveTRANSFORMERSfor IGBT Devices
Such certificate is issued in three level ver-
sions, whereby Wurth Elektronik has been
granted level „full“, which means fulfillment
of highest standards .
The status AEO F, Authorized Economic
Operator (Full) is an internationally recog-
nized quality certificate granted by the cus-
toms authorities, authenticating the compa-
ny’s security from manipulation in the supply
chain, the traceability of incoming and outgo-
ing goods and a functioning organization of
foreign trade control.
„We are very proud of being recognized as
very reliable and trusted company with that
award “, states Ivanka Volpp, responsible for
Compliance in foreign trade and payments at
Wurth Elektronik. „Many of our customers
with international operations aspire to an
AEO – certification themselves and will
demand securities from their suppliers
accordingly. Already today, Wurth Elektronik
as manufacturer of printed circuit boards can
fully provide for such securities.”
www.we-online.de
PCB Producer Receives Seal of
Approval „AEO F “
N E W S
12 Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
CogniPower announced the issuance of its fourth patent, Patent #
7965064, “Power Conversion Regulator with Predictive Energy Bal-
ancing.” Coupled with already issued patent # 7492221, these
patents cover the fundamental principals for control of power convert-
ers based on predictive energy balancing.
According to Thomas Lawson, Founder and President, “Predictive
energy balancing solves the most persistent control issues dogging
switch-mode power converters regarding the necessary trade-offs
between stability and agility. Predictive power converters can be
both remarkably agile and exceptionally stable.”
With these more capable power converters, one predictive power
converter can replace two regular power converters, cutting power
losses by half. At the same time, predictive power converters afford
an opportunity to drastically reduce both size and cost.
CogniPower’s mission is to re-examine accepted wisdom regarding
power converters in the light of new control technology, improved
components, new semiconductor process technologies, and chang-
ing economics driven by energy cost and availability. Four of Cog-
niPower's patents have issued. Ten US patents are pending. We
believe our robust portfolio of both US and international patents is the
basis for major improvements in how effectively and efficiently power
will be transformed and used, in other words, “power smarter.”
www.cognipower.com
U.S. Patent Office Issues 4th Patent for CogniPower Technology
On November 14th -15th, 2011, the “Solar Summit 2011 – Interna-
tional Conference on Highlights and Trends in Solar Energy” takes
place in the Kongresszentrum Konzerthaus Freiburg, Germany.
A new concept defines the fourth occasion of the international confer-
ence series. Up to now, the congress has concentrated on a single
topic which varies each year. In the future, the conference will pres-
ent an upto-date annual overview of all solar energy conversion tech-
nologies. Presentations on current research and development results
will be accompanied by discussions on market and political issues. In
addition, time is reserved for special emphasis on one particular topic
that alternates annually. In 2011, the emphasized topic will be organic
photovoltaics.
www.ise.fraunhofer.de
New Concept for “Solar Summit Freiburg 2011”
National Semiconductor looked back on the
accomplishments of legendary design engi-
neer Bob Pease, who died June 18. During
his 33 years at National, Pease received 21
patents and designed more than 20 integrat-
ed circuits.
After earning a Bachelor’s degree in electri-
cal engineering from MIT in 1961, Pease
went to work at George A. Philbrick
Researches, which launched the commercial
use of the operational amplifier in 1952. There Pease worked on
affordable mass-produced op amps using discrete solid-state compo-
nents.
He moved to California in 1976 to work at National, which had rapidly
grown to become one of the top three U.S. semiconductor companies
based on its analogue technology.
Among the products Pease designed are temperature-voltage fre-
quency converters used in groundbreaking medical research expedi-
tions to Mt. Everest in the 1980s. He also designed a seismic pre-
amplifier chip used to measure lunar ground tremors in the U.S. Apol-
lo moon landing missions. Among his more memorable designs are
the LM331 voltage-to-frequency converter and the LM337 adjustable
voltage regulator.
www.national.com/en/corporate/remembering_bob_pease.html
National Remembers Legendary Analogue Expert Bob Pease
EpiGaN is pleased to announce that it has
closed its first capital round of € 4 million,
which will allow it to start volume production of
GaN-on-Si epitaxial material for the next-gen-
eration efficient power electronics. Capricorn
Cleantech Fund, Robert Bosch Venture Capi-
tal (RBVC), and LRM jointly invested € 4 mil-
lion in EpiGaN, spin-off of imec, to launch vol-
ume production of GaN-on-silicon wafers.
Incorporated in 2010, EpiGaN was founded
by Dr Marianne Germain, CEO, Dr Joff Der-
luyn, CTO and Dr Stefan Degroote, COO, as
a spin-off of imec. For more than 10 years,
the founders jointly developed state-of-the-
art GaN-on-Si technology on 4” and 6”
wafers at imec, part of which has been
licensed to EpiGaN. They are today joined
by a strong consortium of investors who
share their vision on GaN-on-Si as a key
technology for enhancing power manage-
ment efficiency, implementing renewable
energy sources, or enabling cleaner trans-
portation technologies with reduced environ-
mental impact.
www.epigan.com
EpiGaN Raises Capital for GaN-on-Si Production
Himag Solutions Ltd. announced that it has
entered into a strategic alliance with Rogers
Corporation Connecticut, USA. Himag is a
technology company that provides custom
planar magnetic products. This alliance
leverages Himag’s planar transformer tech-
nology and Rogers’ power distribution tech-
nology and global market presence, to bring
unique high efficiency power electronic solu-
tions to market.
Himag’s technology is in advanced planar
transformers, which provide 99% energy effi-
ciency versus only 90% for wire wound
transformers. Himag’s planar transformers
also take up about one-third the space and
weight of conventional transformers.
Rogers has exclusive rights to integrate
Himag’s planar transformers into RO-LINX®
busbars from the Power Distribution Sys-
tems division. These products are ideally
suited for the HEV market due to high effi-
ciency and low weight requirements.
www.rogerscorp.com
www.himag.co.uk
Himag Enters into Agreement with Rogers
The PCIM Conference and Exhibition
2011 in Shanghai took place from June 21
to 23 and celebrated its 10 anniversary.
The mission of this year’s Conference was
headed by “Power Electronics – An
enabling Technology for Energy Efficiency,
E-Mobility and SMART-Grid (including
renewable energy technologies)”. This
topic is perfectly in line with china’s 5 year
plan published by the Ministry of National
Development and Reform Commission
(NDRC) the so called “Brain” for China’s long term development.
Most of the Research funding split to Research Centers, universities
and Industry is going to projects related to Energy Efficiency, Electro-
mobility and SMART-Grid. Energy Efficiency 20/20 (20% less energy
consumption till 2020) is covering all areas from power supplies
(Information, Communication, Computing, Home & Office) through
lighting (in particular LED lighting) up to Motor Control including Fac-
tory automation. Electromobility is dominated by high speed trains
and E-Vehicle. SMART-Grid is covering Power Quality, environmental
friendly energy generation and energy storage.
At this year’s conference in Shanghai we achieved a record number
of participants (more than 350) and an increase in the exhibitors by
more than 10% (about 50 Exhibitors), among them 30 come from the
domestic market. The PCIM conference & Exhibition is in the mean-
time enjoying a high reputation on the domestic market and is
accepted as a key technical platform for expert discussions and tech-
nology transfers.
Technical highlights at the conference have been the three key note
speeches on the main technology roadmaps, the special Industrial
Session on SMART Grid & Electromobility as well as the Panel dis-
cussion on future trends in environmental energy generation.
The first key note presentation from Dapeng Zheng Emerson Shen-
zhen demonstrated very impressive the roadmap of medium voltage
inverters. The key question here is how to operate the power elec-
tronics converters without any transformer directly on medium voltage
level (e.g. 10 kV DC). In the presentation the three main directions
like hard series connected IGBTs, cascaded power electronic building
blocks or multilevel converters. Up to 10 kV DC voltage it seems that
the Multilevel converter type is the most cost effective solution. The
“hard” series connected switches are obviously still today not reliable
in mass production and expensive in the driving concept.
The second key note presentation about Wide Band gap Devices
from Alex Lido ETM (USA) highlighted the high potential of GaN
FET’s in power supply applications. GaN devices will become the
driving technology for the future generation of DC/DC power sup-
plies. The outstanding performance in high frequency operation and
driving will be a revolutionary step in the system integration for power
supplies (ultra compact along with extremely high efficiency). Electri-
cal parameters show an improvement of at least one magnitude com-
paring to Silicon, the production of these devices is proven and the
reliability test show promising results.
The third key note presentation from Liyi Li, Harbin Institute of Tech-
nology, China on main Research Results for High Temperature
Superconducting Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors.
Further highlights during the conference sessions can be summa-
rized in advanced power semiconductor devices, environmental
friendly and renewable energy technologies as well as high efficient
power converter system units. Main contribution for new power
devices came from Infineon Technologies and Mitsubishi for high
power devices, advanced integrated power modules from Fuji and
Semikron and next generation of smart IGBT driver from CT-Con-
cept. A special attention was paid to the new generation of Super
Junction devices from Fuji and Infineon Technologies.
In the field of high power density and ultra high efficient power con-
verters we can outline the presentations AC/DC converters from
Fairchild, Fuji Electric and Flextronics. Smart driver IC’s for high effi-
cient LED driver concepts attracted many experts.
It has become almost a tradition that PCIM Asia is handing out one
“Young Engineer Award” and one “Best Paper Award”. The winner of
the Young Engineer Award was Jun Yi Liu from Univ. of Nottingham
with excellent achievements on “Control strategies for Active Filters in
Aircraft Power Networks”. This award was sponsored by Infineon
Technologies.
The Best Paper Award was given out to Xing Zhang from Hefei Uni-
versity of Technology with an outstanding research work on “Multi-
functional Grid Simulator and its Control”. This award was sponsored
by Mitsubishi.
The first time this year we organized a special Industrial Session on
SMART-Grid and E-Mobility followed by a Panel Discussion with
selected specialist from Industry and Academia. Experts from
Univ.Valencia: Prof.E. Dede, Univ. Kassel: Prof. P. Zacharias, from
Huazhong Univ., Prof. Xiaoming Yuan and Emerson Network Power:
Dr. Feng xu gave key statements followed by an extensive discussion
from the audience.
Finally it can be summarized that this PCIM Asia was an outstanding
event due to the excellent paper quality and expert presentations, the
audience participated actively in all session and the close link
between the conference & Exhibition.
The PCIM Asia now is accepted as a key technical platform for power
electronics experts from Industry, Academia and Government.
www.pcim-asia.com
P C I M A S I A
14 Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
PCIM Asia 2011 – A leading Eventfor Power Electronics Industry
By Leo Lorenz, Conference Director PCIM
[www.infi neon.com/highpower]
EconoPACK™ 4The world standard for 3-level applications
The EconoPACK™4 is an optimized module for 3-level applications like:� Uninterruptible Power Supply� Solar Inverter� High Speed Driveswhere a rugged design, high efficiency and less harmonics are needed.
For these applications starting with 50kW up to 125kW, the EconoPACK™ 4 can be used to build up one phase. For higher power ratings modules can be switched in parallel. All modules are equipped with the state of the art IGBT4.Further information’s are available on request.
The degree of efficiency for two 3-level topologies, NPC1 and NPC2, has to be investigated depending on the switching frequency.� EconoPACK™ 4 in NPC2 topology for low and medium switching frequencies
(approx. fsw≤ 12kHz)� EconoPACK™ 4 in NPC1 topology for high switching frequencies (approx. fsw≥12kHz)
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Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
Akros Silicon Inc. announced the new Ener-
gy$enseTM family of multi-output, digital
DC/DC power management unit (DPMU)
ICs. Energy$ense technology features
include real-time power measurements and
power-subsystem health monitoring, high
efficiency (94% peak) and ultra-low standby
current (<10uA), digital power control (via
I2C) for selectable power operating modes,
fast transient-handling capability for imple-
menting adaptive power profiles, built-in
spread-spectrum clocking for EMI manage-
ment, and built-in sophisticated PWM-dim-
ming for battery-draining LED-backlight dis-
plays.
“Akros has developed the AS19xx Series of
Energy$ense DC/DC DPMUs to address the
growing need for a total energy management
paradigm in modern platforms,” said Parviz
Ghaffaripour, President & CEO. “True to our
leadership in network-based energy man-
agement, the AS19xx series incorporates
unique Energy$ense features on top of
essential digital power manager features so
that our customers can deliver power-man-
agement innovation and performance in their
equipment in an efficient and cost-effective
manner. Additionally, the AS19xx family of
products addresses the needs of system
designers by offering 10 pin-compatible
products that pack a variety of features,
including a wide input voltage range of 3-
27V, load range of 0.5A-10A, switching fre-
quency from 100kHz-2MHz, and internal
spread-spectrum clocking with external syn-
chronization input. These features minimize
external BOM and board space, while offer-
ing great flexibility in multi-platform designs.”
The 10 devices in the new AS19xx Series
come in different combinations of synchro-
nous buck, boost and LED-drive converter
configurations. With unique feature sets to
facilitate simple implementation of real-time
and adaptive energy management schemas,
the AS19xx series is a cost-effective choice
for a wide range of applications including 4G
LTE residential gateways and femtocells,
tablets and large display-oriented consumer
devices, ultra-books, e-books, digital photo
frames, NAS and media hubs, Internet-TV
and IPTV set-top boxes, automotive infotain-
ment systems, solid-state lighting, communi-
cation equipment with cluster-power or inter-
mediate bus architectures, and many others.
The AS19xx Series consists of 10 triple- and
dual-output power-managers that come in
combinations of two synchronous buck regu-
lators and a choice of a buck-boost or LED-
boost controller. Devices come in either
hardware-only mode or hardware and soft-
ware (I2C) mode configuration. The software-
mode devices provide access to advance
power management features such as input
power measurements, software-driven LED-
dimming and daisy chaining. For detailed
part number information, please see the
AS19xx Product Page:
www.AkrosSilicon.com/Energy$ense_DC-DC.
The AS19xx product family is offered in
5x5mm, 32-lead RoHS-compliant QFN pack-
ages, in industrial temperature ranges from -
40°C to +85°C. Products are in full produc-
tion and priced starting at $1.46 per unit in
3K quantities.
www.akrossilicon.com
B L U E P R O D U C T O F T H E M O N T H
16
Energy$ense™ Family of Multi-Rail DC/DC DPMUs
18 Bodo´s Power Systems® July 2011 www.bodospower.com
“Customer applications are much the same.
It’s enough to offer standard topologies in a
sound and robust standard housing.” This is
a commonly held sentiment in the market for
power modules. And in many cases, it holds
true. However, there is also an unwritten law
stating that markets constantly evolve.
Demands change. Engineers turn up novel
and innovative solutions. With competition,
the need to cut costs, and new legislation
exerting relentless pressure, change is con-
stant. And this change gives rise to trends.
Companies that provide power modules are
compelled to recognize these trends and
develop strategies to satisfy constantly
changing requirements. Only those providers
that succeed in rising to this challenge will
be in the position to deliver solutions that are
optimized for customers’ applications. This
goes for both standard products and custom
solutions.
Two powerful trends are shaping today’s
motion control market. For one, customers
are eager to reduce system costs. For the
other, they put a premium on an unimpeach-
able supply chain. The latter is easily
achieved on the drawing board or on a pres-
entation slide. Second-source suppliers
would seem to be the way to go. However, it
turns out that such a strategy is not so easily
implemented in the real world. Although
compatible power module products are
indeed available, rarely are two such prod-
ucts absolutely identical. Providers do offer
similar types of housings with base plates in
the medium 10-to-100-kW performance
range, but their dies are quite different. Fully
compatible modules featuring MiniSKiiPÒ
technology are, however, available in the
lower-to-medium power range.
Customers in the motion control market
strive to minimize the costs of their applica-
tions, for instance, by applying pressure to
suppliers’ prices in the hope that they will
steadily erode. If that ploy fails, the only real
fix is an innovative concept. This is why
power modules have been engineered to
drive down the customer’s assembly costs.
Applications now benefit from modules with
spring pressure contacts and Press-fit pins
for solder-less assembly. Modules that ship
with thermal interface material pre-applied
took the market by storm. Highly integrated
solutions, equipped with the full complement
of control circuitry alongside the bare power
chips, provide optimum solutions for certain
niche applications. Finally, choosing the right
chip manufacturer for the given application
can certainly contribute to cost-cutting efforts
and ensure a greater variety of features and
options. MiniSKiiPÒ is an excellent example
of such concepts put into practice using a
standard technology.
Developments in the market for solar photo-
voltaic inverters are on a somewhat different
trajectory. Cost reductions, of course, also
figure prominently. Providers are streamlin-
ing, slimming down, and scaling down the
power ratings of first-generation products.
The idea here is to use less semiconductor
surface area, thereby cutting costs. Efforts
are also underway to optimize components.
On the other hand, solar cells are a manda-
tory component that complete PV systems.
This is why efforts to eke out those final few
percentage points in energy efficiency from
photovoltaic systems are well worth the engi-
neering labors. A more efficient system
needs less cell surface area, which enables
manufacturers to slash costs. Remarkably
innovative solutions can be realized with
new materials and dies such as silicon car-
bide SiC technology. Consequently, they are
making major inroads into customer applica-
tions. Now that 600V SiC Schottky diodes,
followed by a second wave of 1200V diodes,
have been launched with such success, the
market is eagerly anticipating the release of
mature active switches in various guises
such as J-FETs and SiC-based MOSFETs.
The drive to boost energy efficiency shows
no signs of slowing. Seeking to make the
most of infrastructural synergies, many engi-
neers are eschewing low-power devices in
favor of systems that are able to generate
far more electrical energy. This has prompt-
ed customers to demand power module
housings that are robust enough and
equipped with the terminals necessary to
handle all this electrical power. However,
they also want the highly efficient perform-
ance they have come to expect from low-
power housings. Vincotech, a market leader
in the field, has come up with some amazing
solutions that limit parasitic inductivities to
values far lower than 10 nH. Products
geared for three-level systems make the
implementation of neutral point clamped
(NPC) converters an exercise in conven-
ience. Reactive power compensation is easi-
ly introduced to comply with new regulations
in countries around the world.
Legislation is also compelling manufacturers
to make their uninterruptible power supplies
more efficient. This demand certainly makes
sense in view of the enormous amount of
energy dissipated worldwide by the relatively
inefficient UPS units that power sundry
devices. Power module solutions engineered
for the photovoltaic market are also being
used to this end. Some have been modified
with different chip technology. For example,
in some cases a fast IGBT, sited at the same
topological position as an efficient MOSFET
in a photovoltaic system, can get the job
done in a UPS. Three-level systems are cur-
rently in the works; novel topologies are
available in great numbers; the significance
of discrete solutions is waning.
We believe that we have listened to our cus-
tomers well. We believe that change is con-
stant in our markets. We believe that our
customers are facing great challenges. And
we believe that we can help and are well
prepared to do so.
www.vincotech.com
G U E S T E D I T O R I A L
Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
Specific Market Challenges andTrends Require Tailored Solutions
By Peter Sontheimer, Vice President R&D and Product Marketing, Vincotech GmbH
20 Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
GENERAL
Spurred by booming
demand for the iPhone
and iPad, Apple in
2010 became the
largest buyer of semi-
conductors among
OEMs for the first time
ever, so IHS iSuppli.
Apple in 2010 bought $
17.5 billion worth of semiconductors, a 79.6
percent increase from 2009.
SEMICONDUCTORS
The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics
(WSTS) forecasts the semiconductor market
to grow by 7.6 percent to $ 338.4 billion in
2012, following an estimated 5.4 percent
increase to $ 314.4 billion in 2011. The
industry is now expected to top $ 356.6 bil-
lion in 2013, with a 3-year CAGR of 6.13
percent from 2010 to 2013.
Renesas Electronics released an updated
production schedule for its Naka wafer fabri-
cation factory in Japan. Having resumed
mass production at both the 200- and
300mm wafer fabrication lines, Renesas now
expects it will be capable of significantly
moving up the schedule by one month from
the end of October to the end of September.
Sitelesc, the French semiconductor associa-
tion, reports Q111 semiconductor sales in
France were up 6 percent on a euro basis
compared to Q110, and up 10.6 percent
compared to Q410.
Analog Devices has acquired Lyric Semicon-
ductor, a small company which has devel-
oped an innovative set of techniques that
have the potential to achieve an order of
magnitude improvement in power efficiency
in mixed signal processing and enable addi-
tional signal processing functionality in a
broad set of applications.
Skyworks Solutions, an analog and mixed
signal semiconductors supplier, closed its
acquisition of SiGe Semiconductor, a suppli-
er of RF front-end solutions.
Fab equipment spending should reach an
all-time high of about $ 44 billion, so SEMI.
The spending pace is expected to decline 6
percent to $ 41 billion in 2012. The SEMI
database also indicates that 17 new volume
fabs (including 13 LED fabs) have a high
probability (>60 percent) of beginning con-
struction this year. Excluding the LED fabs,
SEMI predicts only four volume fabs will
begin construction this year and another four
in 2012. Installed capacity is expected
increase about 9 percent in 2011 and 7 per-
cent in 2012.
Worldwide semiconductor capital equipment
spending is on track to reach $ 44.8 billion in
2011, a 10.2 percent increase from 2010, so
Gartner. However, analysts warned that a
looming semiconductor inventory correction,
combined with oversupply in foundry, will
lead to a slight spending decline in 2012:
semiconductor capital equipment spending
in 2012 will see a 2.6 percent decline, fol-
lowed by 8.9 percent growth in 2013. The
next cyclical decline should begin in late
2013, as the impact of memory oversupply
takes its toll.
OPTOELECTRONICS
China is expected to surpass Japan in large-
area TFT LCD panel production in Q2’11, so
DisplaySearch. Large-area TFT LCD panel
production by Chinese makers, including
mini-note, tablet PC, notebook, monitor, and
TV applications, was 2.7 million units per
month in Q111, compared to 3.2 million units
per month from Japanese makers. Sharp
restructures its LCD business: the Japanese
company will start producing middle- and
small-size LCD panels for smartphones and
tablet computers, whose demands are rapid-
ly increasing, at its Kameyama Plant No. 1
and No. 2, which have been used for the
production of large-size LCD panels.
PASSIVE COMPONENTS
Total sales for Germany’s PCB industry grew
11.6 percent in March 2011 compared with
the previous month, so the ZVEI. Year-on-
year sales were up 15 percent. Cumulative
sales from January to March 2011 grew 20
percent compared with Q1 2010. New orders
in March 2010 were up 18 percent com-
pared to February 2011.
OTHER COMPONENTS
Analyses conducted by Siplace’s market
researchers confirm that the market for SMT
equipment in continued upward trend. The
manufacturers of SMT equipment and place-
ment solutions increased the value of their
worldwide deliveries in the first three months
of 2011 by another seven percent over the
already highly successful last quarter of
2010. Europe, North America and South
America established themselves as the
growth drivers in early 2011 with 66 percent
more order bookings compared with Q110.
DISTRIBUTION
In the first quarter 2011/2012, Premier Far-
nell achieved total sales of £ 252.5 M. This
was a growth of 8.3 percent compared with
the same quarter of the previous year. Profit
before tax was £ 41.9 M compared with €
22.2 M in the same period of the previous
year. First quarter sales via the web grew
30.2 percent year on year and eCommerce
accounted for 53.7 percent of MDD (Market-
ing and Distribution Division) sales, with
eCommerce sales in Europe now accounting
for 70.7 percent of sales. Premier Farnell
also announced the launch of the element14
knode, an online design platform that pro-
vides one interface to a world of engineering
design solutions.
Avnet announced Gerry Fay has been pro-
moted to chief global logistics and opera-
tions officer, effective July 4, 2011. Fay
joined the Avnet team via the Memec acqui-
sition in 2005.
Avnet Abacus has signed a Pan-European
distribution agreement with Cymbet, a sup-
plier in solid-state energy storage solutions
for microelectronic systems, to distribute
Cymbet’s complete range of rechargeable
solid state batteries, power management
devices, and evaluation kits.
This is the comprehensive power related
extract from the « Electronics Industry Digest
», the successor of The Lennox Report. For
a full subscription of the report contact:
or by fax 44/1494 563503.
www.europartners.eu.com
M A R K E T
ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY DIGESTBy Aubrey Dunford, Europartners
Strength of Europe 35 Years SEMICON Europa - Building on the
11-13 October Dresden, Germany
Co-located with Plastic ElectronicsConference and Exhibition 2011
Exhibition and Programs focus on the hot Topics and current Challenges:MEMS
350+ Exhibitors
40+ Programs and Events
www.semiconeuropa.org
the elements of innovation
The embedded ac-dc power supply market is facing an unprecedent-
ed number of opportunities that have not been typical for this industry
in the past. Driven by new applications such as the Smart Grid and
Solid-State Lighting, ac-dc power supplies are undergoing a signifi-
cant shift in demand characteristics that will result in new product
designs and sales opportunities. These are discussed in detail in
Darnell Group’s tenth edition report, AC-DC Power Supplies: Eco-
nomic Factors, Application Drivers, Architecture/Packaging Trends,
Technology and Regulatory Developments.
The smart grid is expected to change the design of all types of elec-
tronic equipment. Although the power electronics used in the smart
grid are still being defined, Darnell Group has identified several seg-
ments that are showing the greatest potential for power supply manu-
facturers: smart meters for monitoring residential electricity, water
and gas; electric vehicle chargers; and “smart appliances” that rely
on demand response to adjust energy usage. A promising direction is
the ability to remotely monitor and “dispatch” energy as needed in a
building, such as lighting control systems.
Smart meters are often thought of as the “first step” toward smart
grids. Smart electricity meters may enable greater consumer control
over consumption and are being deployed at an increasing pace,
especially in North America and Europe. These new meters will com-
municate information on household use back to the utility company
directly, to better monitor power usage and help utilities manage
power distribution.
The number of smart electric meters deployed worldwide is forecast
to increase from a 2009 level of 76 million units to about 212 million
units by 2014. By 2020, the number of residential and commercial
smart meter connections is expected to reach 1.3 billion. For exam-
ple, the installed base of smart electricity meters in Europe is expect-
ed to grow at a CAGR of 19.4% between 2010 and 2016 to reach
130.5 million at the end of the period. Much of the ac-dc power sup-
ply content in smart meters is expected to be captive rather than
merchant production, however.
Government regulations are likely to drive smart meter adoption,
since $3.4 billion in US federal economic stimulus funding was direct-
ed to smart grid development in November 2009. The European
Union enacted a Third Energy Package in September 2009 that aims
to see every European electricity meter smart by 2022.
Looking at “smart” appliances and EV chargers, Samsung Electron-
ics attributed its 13% revenue increase in first-quarter 2011 to growth
in emerging markets and rapid sales of premium refrigerators, wash-
ing machines and air-conditioners in Europe. And ABB recently
announced the acquisition of Epyon B.V., an early leader in electric
vehicle charging infrastructure solutions focusing on dc fast-charging
stations and network charger software. Epyon’s dc fast-charging sta-
tions have been in commercial use since May 2010.
Darnell has also identified certain applications that, although not new,
are undergoing important changes. Building Automation Systems
(BASs) are a traditional industrial application that is slowly evolving
as energy efficiency regulations and the smart grid take hold. Wired
systems are moving toward wireless implementations and protocols,
for example, with wireless sensor networks changing how building
facilities are designed and retrofitted. Heating, ventilation and air con-
ditioning (HVAC) systems and lighting control have traditionally been
separate systems, but next-generation BASs are looking at merging
the two into more efficient (and less costly) designs. This will affect
both the design and sales of embedded ac-dc power supplies.
Another growth area are light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which are
expected to be at the forefront of solid-state lighting solutions. Power
supplies used in LED-based lighting solutions are inherently different
from the power supplies used in standard electronic systems. The
emergence of ac-dc power supplies for LEDs will require power sup-
ply makers to focus on designs that are industrial-grade, rugged and
can be used outdoors. Furthermore, they must be able to regulate
output current, and they need to be sealed against the elements and
thermally protected.
The recently built Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, claims
to use 22,000 power supplies to light its high-definition video dis-
plays. At New York’s Yankee Stadium, 8,590 power supplies are used
to power the 8.6 million LEDs used to render images on the screens.
There are nearly 500,000 large and small billboards within eyesight
of the highways, freeways and local streets in the US. Due primarily
to cost, only about 1 out of 750 of them are (currently) LED types.
This means the market potential for digital signage has barely been
exploited, and a potentially huge market for embedded ac-dc power
supplies exists. In addition, the applications associated with the smart
grid and LEDs are typically lower power than the traditional middle-
to higher-wattage applications that are targeted by embedded ac-dc
power suppliers. This could signal a shift toward lower-wattage sales,
although it is still not expected to alter the demand at higher power
levels.
Digital power management and control continue to make significant
strides in ac-dc power supplies, with particular application in energy
management systems. Since power conversion is an essential ele-
ment of smart grid implementations, digital power will help enable the
monitoring, communication and control of devices. Measuring energy
consumption (and making it meaningful) is critical, since you can’t
manage what you can’t measure. And even though energy manage-
ment systems are necessary for building automation, it doesn’t mean
customers will pay a premium for them. Ac-dc power supply compa-
nies will need to develop new products for these new technologies,
but it is possible that existing methods simply need to be re-exam-
ined and re-designed.
M A R K E T
22 Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
Smart Grid Will Drive AC-DCPower Supply Growth
By Linnea Brush, Senior Research Analyst, Darnell
Finally, both silicon carbide (SiC) and galli-
um nitride (GaN) are expected to be impor-
tant in future power supply designs. SiC-
based power devices are said to exhibit
superior properties such as very-low switch-
ing losses, fast switching behavior,
improved reliability and high temperature
operation capabilities. An advantage of
these properties is that they help increase
switching frequency, decrease the size of
passive components and switches, and
reduce the need for cooling, thus making
the devices a good candidate for ac-dc
power supplies. Gallium nitride technology
also has the potential to support the next
generation of semiconductor solutions, as
current power converters rely on silicon,
which has reached its limit on improving
conversion efficiencies.
In October, 2010, the partners in a new,
publicly funded European research project
announced details of the multinational/multi-
disciplinary program called LAST POWER
(Large Area silicon carbide Substrates and
heTeroepitaxial GaN for POWER device
applications). The aim of this 42-month
ENIAC (European Nanoelectronics Initiative
Advisory Council) project is to provide
Europe with strategic independence in the
field of wide band gap (WBG) semiconduc-
tors. This field is of major strategic impor-
tance as it involves the development of
highly energy-efficient systems for all appli-
cations that need power, from telecommuni-
cations to automotive, from consumer elec-
tronics to electrical household appliances,
and from industrial applications to home
automation.
These trends make it clear that embedded
ac-dc power supplies are on the cusp of
some potentially game-changing scenarios.
Power supply makers have reason to be
optimistic, since even the potential threats
can point the way to alternative opportuni-
ties. This makes the long-term outlook for
ac-dc power supplies very bright.
www.darnell.com/acdc
www.bodospower.com August 2011 Bodo´s Power Systems® 23
NQB2 1/4 Brick IBC Converter
Highlights¬ Industry leading power density
¬ Driven by CUI’s patented SolusTM Power Topology
¬ DOSA compliant pin-out
Specifications ¬ 720 W / 60 A output ¬ 1/4 brick package¬ 36-60 Vdc input range¬ Up to 96.4% efficiency
smarter, faster, smaller
Check out the latest addition to CUI’s power line: 720 W Novum Intermediate Bus Converter
At CUI, our approach is to develop smarter, faster, smaller power modules. Whether it’s an embedded ac-dc power supply, a board level dc-dc converter, or a level V external adapter, we continuously strive to keep our power line, that ranges from 0.25 W to 2400 W, ahead of the curve.
cui.com/power
24
The potential for reducing carbon emissions
by electrifying transportation has caught the
attention of local and national government
officials due to concerns about the contribu-
tion of transportation emissions to climate
change. In 2009, the U.S. federal govern-
ment highlighted electricity as a promising
alternative to petroleum for transport purpos-
es. An official domestic goal of putting one
million electric vehicles on the road by 2015
was established, and a range of public poli-
cies to encourage electrification has been
implemented by federal, state, and local gov-
ernments [1]. In Asia-Pacific, there are vari-
ous national-level initiatives and programs to
promote the awareness of electric vehicles.
China will be the largest Asia Pacific market
for electric vehicles over the next five years,
representing 53% of the region’s total sales
during that period. The vast majority of
China’s EV fleet will be full electric vehicles,
driven by a strong push behind this category
by the central government. In contrast, plug-
in hybrid electric vehicles will be the largest
category in Japan, which is expected to be
the region’s second-largest market for all
EVs [2]. The enabling technologies for EVs
include the gate drivers used in the related
power converters since integration level and
intelligent control substantially contribute to
increasing power efficiency and reliability
while offering the potential for reducing the
total cost of the system.
CONCEPT - an independent and highly
experienced gate-driver supplier
CT-Concept Technologie AG has over 25
years of experience as a technology and
market leader in high-power IGBT gate driv-
er electronics. Our SCALE-2 chipset [3]
achieves the highest integration level seen
on the market for 2- to 6-channel gate-driv-
ers. It has a bidirectional transformer inter-
face and integrated isolated DC-DC convert-
ers offering 2.5kV safe insulation, enhanced
monitoring, increasing overall system effi-
ciency by integrated Advanced Active
Clamping, and various customization options
by means of a single mask-programmable
integrated analog and digital array. Since the
start of series production in 2008, this
chipset has been tried and tested in large
quantities within a wide diversity of applica-
tions. The recently introduced technology
demonstration platform for full electric vehi-
cle gate drivers is a next step in the evolu-
tion of highly integrated gate drivers with the
goal of further reducing costs while enabling
highest flexibility to allow a rapid response to
various customer demands.
Furthermore, CT-Concept Technologie AG
contributes to increasing energy efficiency
for power transmission and distribution by
new technologies such as direct paralleling,
master-slave operation, and Dynamic
Advanced Active Clamping which have
recently been introduced with the new high-
voltage and high-power plug-and-play gate
drivers.
The particular demands made on recent
IGBTs and their gate drivers, such as
advanced monitoring and maximum utiliza-
tion of the IGBTs at the edges of the Safe
Operating Area (SOA), lead to a greater
increase in complexity and development
effort. Application specific integrated circuits
(ASICs) are advantageous here because
they reduce system complexity and therefore
lower manufacturing costs while increasing
reliability and system performance.
It is obvious that the best price-performance
ratio can be achieved by choosing adequate
technology and by large volume production.
However, very few products reach this level
of market demand. It is the inherent strength
of CONCEPT as an independent and highly
experienced gate-driver supplier to over-
come the obstacles of monolithic integration
in this highly specific market. Broad applica-
tion coverage and a large combined quantity
of drivers allow all common driver functions
to be combined on a platform of dedicated
ASICs.
Highly integrated SCALE-2 platform
The SCALE-2 driver chipset integrates the
full functionality of a dual-channel gate driver
core with a gate capability of 8A and 1W or
even more per channel including control of
isolated DC-to-DC conversion with a dedi-
cated startup sequence, isolated bidirection-
al signal transmission by magnetic trans-
formers, high-performance output stages as
well as advanced protection, monitoring and
interface functions. The fast signal process-
ing combined with the low drift or divergence
and jitter of propagation delay as well as all
other relevant driver parameters also simplify
the management of IGBTs in parallel or
series connection.
C O V E R S T O R Y
Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
Driving Zero Emissions by SCALE-2
A flexible and competitive solution for converter systems of the class below 100kW
CONCEPT has designed the most compact plug-and-play drivers on the market for thelatest automotive IGBT modules from a range of manufacturers.
These designs demonstrate the outstanding capabilities of SCALE-2 technology in exploiting the full power of the challenging 650V IGBT modules dedicated to full electricand hybrid electric vehicles, and clearly show the high potential of future developments in
custom-specific chipset and gate drivers.
By Jan Thalheim, Olivier Garcia and Dominik Frauenfelder, CT-Concept Technologie AG, Switzerland
Figure 1 shows the simplified topology of
SCALE-2 Plug-and-Play drivers. The gate
power and current can be easily increased
by the use of external low-cost n-type DMOS
which are directly controlled by the SCALE-2
chipset at a duty cycle from 0 to 100%. All
our new automotive gate drivers use similar
interfaces providing several operation
modes, fault feedback, and NTC signaliza-
tion including protection against insulation
failure. The IGBTs can be operated in direct
paralleling mode to combine the power of
several phases of one or more modules.
There is no need for synchronization or bal-
ancing of load inductances. It is only neces-
sary to apply a common input signal to the
gate drivers. Short-pulse command suppres-
sion is also available to achieve extreme
EMI immunity. The UL-compliant design eas-
ily scales up to 1200V, meeting the require-
ment for 2.5kV safe insulation (to EN 50178
and IEC 60664) and can be adapted to dif-
ferent module types and customer require-
ments.
Six-channel IGBT driver 6SP0110T for
Infineon HybridPACK™1
The extreme cost saving capability of ASIC
integration is demonstrated in the design of
the new 6SP0110T six-channel Plug-and-
Play IGBT driver, see Figure 2, left. It is
adapted for the HybridPACK™1 from Infi-
neon, which is a power module designed for
Mild Hybrid Electrical Vehicle applications for
a power range up to 30 KW and is rated up
to 400A/650V.
The gate capability of 8A and 1W per chan-
nel is fully assured by the chipset without the
need for external active components.
The overall component count is reduced by
about 50 % compared to a SCALE driver
based on the previous chipset.
The DC-DC and signal transformers have
been optimized to minimize costs while still
maintaining superior performance as regards
long-term reliability, thermal stability, cou-
pling capacitance and signal integrity.
The costs of the 6SP0110T or similar cus-
tom-specific gate drivers are very competi-
tive, thanks to the very high integration level
achieved with the SCALE-2 chipset.
Moreover, the chipset has been developed
on the basis of two independent semicon-
ductor processes while retaining full func-
tional and parameter compatibility. Its com-
petitive advantages of exceptional cost per-
formance and long-term availability options
will strongly impact its make-or-buy analysis.
Six-channel IGBT driver 6SP0235T for
Infineon HybridPACK™2
Figure 3 shows a similar gate driver adapted
to the HybridPACK™2 from Infineon. This is
a power module designed for Full Hybrid
Electrical Vehicle applications for a power
range up to 80 KW. It is designed for directly
water-cooled inverter systems.
www.bodospower.com August 2011
Figure 1: Simplified topology of SCALE-2Plug-and-Play IGBT drivers
Rg,on
Turn-on Driver
VceMonitoring
+15V
Turn-off Driver
Rg,off
AdvancedActive Clamping
Rg,on
Turn-on Driver
+15V
Turn-off Driver
Rg,off
AdvancedActive Clamping
Channel 1
Channel 2
VceMonitoring
NTC
Inte
rfac
e
Figure 2: Six-channel Plug-and-Play driver6SP0110T engineering sample made for Infineon HybridPACK™1
Figure 3: Six-channel Plug-and-Play driver6SP0235T engineering sample made for Infineon HybridPACK™2
Figure 4 shows the results of turn-off control by Advanced Active
Clamping. This advanced methodology allows the switching frequen-
cy of the gate driver to be increased by factor of ten or more, com-
pared with simple active clamping. Current designs achieve maxi-
mum DC link voltages of 450V at twice the nominal collector current
at a junction temperature of 150°C. Particular optimization or other
dedicated control such as Vce/dt or dIc/dt feedback could also be
considered.
Figure 5 shows a turn-on of the Infineon HybridPACK™2 by the six-
channel Plug-and-Play driver 6SP0235T. The dVce/dt may also be
increased upon customer request.
Figure 6 shows a short-circuit turn-off of the Infineon HybridPACK™2
by the six-channel Plug-and-Play driver 6SP0235T. The response
time is very short to comply with the particular SOA requirements.
Six-channel IGBT driver 6SP0108T for Fuji 6MBI400VN-065V
Figure 7 shows the six-channel Plug-and-Play driver 6SP0108T
made for the Fuji 6MBI400VN-065V. The driver has been divided into
two parts which are stacked to achieve a minimum footprint. The
design could be further optimized to omit one part.
Custom-specific developments
The gate drivers are designed for a maximum switching frequency of
16kHz for an ambient temperature range of -40 to 85°C under indus-
trial or traction conditions, thus achieving highest reliability for use
with full electric vehicles.
Upon request, an in-system qualification will clarify the available mar-
gin and design flexibility since the specified operating life time can be
reduced according to typical automotive demand.
Since the specified temperature coolant for the HybridPACK™2 is
75°C, there is some potential for cooling the driver via the IGBT
baseplate since thermal conduction can be provided by the electrical
interfaces on top of the module. Furthermore, upon request, the
ASICs are also available in QFN packages to enhance their thermal
conductivity. Also, the cooling of gate resistors could be improved by
several means.
Summary and outlook
It has been demonstrated that SCALE-2 drivers are also a flexible
and competitive solution for converter systems of the class below
100kW. Samples of the new automotive gate drivers are available
from Q3 2011. Ongoing research based on this technology demon-
strator platform, followed by custom-specific developments focuses
on further increasing the integration level of future chipsets.
[1] http://www.indiana.edu/~spea/pubs/TEP_combined.pdf
[2] http://www.pikeresearch.com/newsroom/electric-vehicle-sales
-in-asia-pacific-to-total-1-4-million-by-2015
[3] J. Thalheim, H. Rüedi: Universal Chipset for IGBT and
Power-MOSFET Gate Drivers, PCIM Europe, 2007
www.IGBT-Driver.com
C O V E R S T O R Y
26 Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
Figure 4: Turn-off of Infineon HybridPACK™2 by six-channel Plug-and-Play driver 6SP0235T
Figure 7: Six-chan-nel Plug-and-Playdriver 6SP0108Tengineering samplemade for Fuji6MBI400VN-065V
Figure 5: Turn-on of Infineon HybridPACK™2 by six-channel Plug-and-Play driver 6SP0235T
Figure 6: Short-circuit turn-off of Infineon HybridPACK™2 by six-channel Plug-and-Play driver 6SP0235T
ANNOUNCEMENT
Power Electronics and Adjustable Speed Drives: Towards the 20-20-20 Target!
Announcement www.epe2011.com
28 Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
A new topology
CUI is leveraging their Solus Power Topolo-
gy™ to pioneer a new era in dc-dc power
supply performance. Solus is an entirely new
topology, rich in features that accelerate the
performance trend trajectories for the big-
four power conversion needs: higher power
density, higher efficiency for “greener” sys-
tems, faster transient response, and lower
EMI. CUI is introducing their NQB2060
Novum® quarter-brick bus converter as a
prime example of the benchmark 720 watts
output power performance using their Solus
Topology.
Solus’ key features
Very simply, the Solus Topology combines
the single-ended primary-inductor converter
(SEPIC) with the ubiquitous buck converter
to form the SEPIC-fed buck converter. This
new topology enhances the dc-dc power
supply in a number of ways. The ability to
reduce power losses is most important in
Solus Topology’s long list of features.
Increased efficiency is achieved with the
Solus Topology reducing both the conduction
and the switching losses at several critical
points within the converter circuit. The loss
reduction is so significant that CUI can
increase the output current by 40% for a
given power supply package size. Converse-
ly, the loss reduction enables increased effi-
ciency by several percent for “green”
designs for a given output current and pack-
age size when compared to the traditional
buck topology.
Lower conduction losses via lower inter-
nal currents
Implementing the “divide and conquer” con-
cept, the Solus Topology accomplishes the
reduction of conduction losses by channeling
the operating currents into several paths.
Figure 1 shows the schematic for the Solus
Topology SEPIC-fed buck converter topolo-
gy. Q1SB functions as high-side switch for
both the SEPIC and buck operation. Q2B
functions as the low-side switch in buck
operation. Q2S functions as part of the
SEPIC operation. Note that as soon as the
input current enters the converter at I1, the
topology immediately branches that current
into several paths, with each circuit path car-
rying lower instantaneous current than the
output current IOUT. This reduces the con-
duction losses by the square of the current
reduction identified in Figure 1. Thus, the
conduction losses are significantly less when
compared to standard buck converter losses.
The reduced imposed current through the
MOSFETs allows the design to obtain lower
losses for a given set of devices.
Lower voltage stress
The multi-current paths, characteristic in the
Solus converter, also reduce the voltage
stress on components by nearly 50%.
This opens the possibility that, for a given
voltage conversion, the design may use
lower voltage MOSFETs and capacitors
compared to the standard buck converter.
This allows substitution of lower Rds(on)
MOSFETs in a given device package size.
D C / D C C O N V E R T E R
New Power Topology Propels Quarter-Brick Bus Converterto Benchmark Power Density
The ability to reduce power losses is most important
Describing here a new ultra-high-performance topology expected to be the foundation for next-generation dc-dc power supplies in high density and “green” systems.
CUI uses feature-rich Solus Power Topology™ to create their new, 445 W/in3 Novum® Advanced Power quarter brick bus converter that delivers
720 watts, 60 A at 12 volts output.
By Jeff Smoot, VP of Engineering, CUI Inc
Figure 1 – Solus Topology schematic with relative average internal currents (Note M =output/input voltage ratio)
30 Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
Reduced switching losses
With lower applied currents and voltages, the Solus Topology shrinks
the VDSxID overlap curve area by the value of:
VSolus = 0.5(Vin+Vout) ISolus = Iout/(2-D)
The result is better than a 75% high-side MOSFET turn-on loss
reduction compared to the traditional buck converter. This is shown in
the curves’ leading edges for the standard buck on the left and the
Solus converter in Figure 2b
Sub-nanosecond silicon MOSFET turn-off
Even more impressive is the Solus Topology’s ability to eliminate
turn-off switching losses. This topology is ideally suited for imple-
menting the gate-charge-extraction (GCE) circuit, which has the abili-
ty to turn off the silicon MOSFET channel in less than a nanosecond.
Figure 3 shows the Solus turn-off waveforms for the high side switch
(HSS). The oscilloscope capture in Figure 3 shows the voltage and
current waveforms for HSS turn-off. In Figure 4, the red curve shows
the instantaneous power during turn-off, which is approximately 50
watts peak and lasts 6.4 nanoseconds for a total power loss at 200
kHz of a negligible 68 milliwatts.
Figure 5 demonstrates the total high-side transistor switching loss
when comparing the Solus converter to the traditional standard buck
converter. Observe that, as the voltage step-down ratio “M” moves
from 0.100, to 0.250, to 0.660, the Solus losses are improved by
91%, 88%, and 70%, respectively. Thus, the Solus Topology is ideal
for wide-conversion-ratio POL applications.
Opening the door to higher frequency converters
At increased switching frequencies, these improvements become
even more compelling. The higher the switching fre-
quency you can produce, the higher the power densi-
ty, if converter efficiency is held to a reasonable level.
If we assume equivalent switching losses for both
turn-on and turn-off of the high-side switch in the
buck converter, the Solus Topology has the potential
to reduce the switching losses by over 90%. This
allows the Solus converter to operate at a higher
switching frequency without sacrificing very much effi-
ciency, permitting benchmark power density at very
reasonable levels of efficiency.
Other benefits
As described, the Solus Topology accomplishes performance
improvements with novel conversion methods, not higher perform-
ance components or sophisticated control. Yet, any improvements
these other factors afford will further improve on Solus’ new perform-
ance platform.
Since the input current to the Solus Topology is almost straight dc
current with only slight ripple, you can reduce the input capacitors by
95% in size. This feature reduces the EMI due to input current ripple.
Product example – the Novum® quarter-brick bus converter
CUI’s Solus Topology is now being deployed in their Novum®
Advanced Power line of products. The NQB2060 quarter-brick bus
converter is the first product in this series being introduced by CUI.
They developed the NQB2060 to complement their Novum®
Advanced Power point-of-load product offering. However, the Novum
Quarter-brick bus converter can readily provide power to any POLs
needing 12 Vdc input. The NQB2060 is highly efficient over the entire
input voltage range so there is no current derating due to input volt-
age, with the quarter brick able to supply the full 60 amperes output
current even at maximum input voltage.
D C / D C C O N V E R T E R
Figure 3 – High-Side Switch (HSS) Gate Charge Extraction (GCE)waveforms
Figure 5 – Total Switching Loss Comparison: Solus vs. StandardBuck Converter
Figure 4 – GCE power measurement
Figure 2 – The high-side switch VDSxID switching power loss comparison of Solusconverter vs. standard buck converter
What’s next
The Solus Topology can be used both isolated and non-isolated dc-
dc power supply designs. It is an excellent topology for non-isolated
dc-dc point-of-load (POL) power supplies due to its ability to provide
a wider duty cycle “D” for given output to input voltage ratio “M”. This
is an especially attractive feature for wide-conversion-ratio POLs.
In the canonical buck converter, the D term, or pulse-width ratio, is
equal to the M term or output/input voltage ratio. For the Solus con-
verter, M = D/(2-D). Translating that to an operational advantage, at
any given voltage ratio, the pulse width will be wider than for the
standard buck converter. Thus, the 12 V intermediate bus voltage is
still attractive for powering chips even down to 0.5 V. The Solus
Topology should support continued use of the lower-distributed-cur-
rent 12 V intermediate bus voltage, rather than yielding prematurely
to lower intermediate bus voltage with higher distributed current.
Since the Solus Topology maintains it effectiveness independent of
the control method used, it can operate with analog voltage mode
control, analog current mode control, and various digital control pro-
files. That opens the door for CUI to implement this topology in a
wide variety of power supply product platforms.
The Solus Topology can also improve the performance of the isolated
high-voltage dc-dc section of the ac-dc power supply. Since it can
operate very efficiently over a wide voltage range, you can substan-
tially reduce the amount of the bulk hold-up capacitance, reducing
the total cost of the power supply.
In this limited space, we attempted to describe as many of the Solus
Topology’s performance-enhancing features as possible. The brief
feature descriptions provide insight into the potential of this new
topology. CUI’s first product, the Novum NQB2060 quarter-brick bus
converter, using the Solus Topology, provides undisputed validation
regarding this novel topology’s potential. Expanded topological fea-
tures and product specifications are available in CUI’s product litera-
ture.
1 Patent US7777458, dated August 17, 2010 and patent US7812577, dated
October 12, 2010, international patents pending
www.cui.com
The NQB2060 product specifications are:
Vin range = 36 Vdc to 60
Vdc Vout = 12 Vdc
Iout max = 60 amperes over FULL input voltage
Pout = 720 watts
Form factor = 58.4 x 36.8 x 12.2 mm (2.3” x 1.45” x 0.48”)
Power density = 445 W/in3
Efficiency: (Vin = 48 Vdc and Vout = 12 Vdc)
@ full load > 95%
@ peak η (approx. 60% load) = 96%
Over full input voltage range > 95%
Available in both 1st generation DOSA (2
output pins)
and 2nd generation DOSA (4 output pins)
configurations
D C / D C C O N V E R T E R
31
32 Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
M A G N E T I C S C O M P O N E N T S
Compared with other inductors, the Premo inductor can reduce the
power loss with 5.7W, both at 120Vac and at 220Vac input, at 63kHz
switching frequency.
Power Factor Correction is then a must to optimize the net and was
regulated in most developed countries for loads larger than 70W.
The new plug in hybrid or full electric cars incorporates many high
power components and converters. One the key devices is the Bat-
tery Charger, which allows charging the battery from a single or three
phase main line.
LT has just developed a new 3.3kW high efficiency and low size
automotive battery charger using Premo PFC-001 choke.
Automotive battery chargers are divided in three main powers allow-
ing different battery charging speed.
A battery charger is composed of three main blocks:
The PFC converter is an active boost that assures voltage and cur-
rent are in phase (cosÔ = 1), which reduces the harmonics intro-
duced in the line.
One of the most important parts of the PFC converter is the inductor.
Reduce size, weight and improve the efficiency is a challenge for
automotive battery charger.
Premo has been developing transformers and chokes for automotive
battery chargers for the last 6 years. By using that experience, a new
of the shelf PFC inductors series has been introduced in our cata-
logue. This series is specially designed for new automotive needs
reaching the highest efficiency (>99%) in the market with a robust
and small design.
Unlike other inductors in the market, the new PFC series is designed
with Sendust magnetic cores, avoiding aging or magnetostriction
problems that use to appear in other magnetic cores designs.
Main characteristics:
Three power ratings (4-10-20kW)
Mounting onto water-plate heatsinks
High inductance value up to 500uH.
Frequency range: 50-100kHz
H class component for operation up to 180ºC
Very stable performances versus temperature
No thermal aging effect
Its special mechanics and potting system allows to be connected
directly to the cold plate having the best thermal conductivity besides
high isolation (>2500V) between coil and metallic box.
Premo is developing advanced soft magnetics solutions for LT for
automotive and non-automotive applications such as LED lighting
LT3799 LED driver I.C. For information refer to Application Note
http://cds.linear.com/docs/Datasheet/3799p.pdf
www.grupopremo.com
High Efficiency PFC ChokeDesigned for PFC chipset application
Did you realize that an electric car is a net plugged “apparatus” as per the description of theEMC Directive 2004/108/EC. To the eyes of the electric network the car is no different than a
Washing Machine or a Plasma TV set. Charging your car battery will require compact high fre-quency switched mode power supply technology chargers that are “noisy” by nature but, as well
are pure impedances that generate a relative high consumption of reactive power.
By Pau Colomer, Premo IC Product Manager, [email protected]
Table 1: Different automotive battery charging speed
Table 2: Electrical characteristics for the three P/N of this series
Figure 1: Three main blocks of a battery charger Figure 3: PFC series designed with Sendust magnetic cores, avoid-ing aging or magnetostriction problems
Figure 2: Typical PFC schematic
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34 Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
The relationship between input voltage and current is expressed as
power factor (PF). In systems that generate nonlinear load currents,
power factor correction (PFC) circuits are employed to make the
input of the power supply appear as a linear load to the power sys-
tem. An effective PFC circuit reduces both peak and RMS currents,
and optimizes the efficiency of power delivery from the AC source.
Because of the impact of power factor on the supply infrastructure,
government agencies have introduced and progressively tightened
their requirements for PF and harmonic distortion. IEC/EN61000-3-2
is widely used as the PF standard for electronic equipment, both for
domestic and commercial applications.
PFC can be achieved through various topologies, such as buck,
boost, flyback, Cuk, and single-ended primary-inductor converter
(SEPIC). The boost topology has become popular because it is sim-
ple, and the continuous input inductor current makes it an ideal can-
didate for PFC. A number of control strategies have been introduced
by power supply IC manufacturers including peak, average, and hys-
teresis continuous conduction current (CCM) mode control, and criti-
cal mode control discontinuous conduction mode (DCM). PFC ICs
have enabled power supply manufacturers to achieve significant
improvements in PF performance in recent years, although there
have been reliability issues associated with the complexity of some
implementations.
HiperPFS highlights
HiperPFTM, a new PFC IC introduced by Power Integrations, differen-
tiates itself by employing a unique control strategy, constant amp-
seconds on-time control, and constant volt-seconds off-time control.
The single chip solution provides integrated loss-free current sensing
and eliminates the current control loop external compensation com-
ponents, thus minimizing design complexity. The innovative variable-
frequency continuous conduction mode operation (VF-CCM) sup-
presses EMI and minimizes switching losses by operating at low
average switching frequency.
Amp-second and volt-second control
The core of HiperPFS is a constant amp-second on-time and con-
stant volt-second off-time control algorithm. In Figure 1, a boost PFC
is used as an example to illustrate the control mechanism. Integrating
the switch current and controlling it to have a constant amp-second
product over the on-time of the switch allows the average input cur-
rent to follow the input voltage. Integrating the difference between the
output and input voltage maintains a constant volt-second balance
dictated by the electromagnetic properties of the boost inductor, thus
regulating the output voltage and power.
The controller sets a constant value for the integration of the switch
current during each on-cycle of the power MOSFET. The integrated
current per cycle is considered constant over a half line cycle due to
the very low bandwidth of the boost converter output voltage control
loop, far below the 120 Hz half line cycle frequency, in fact. In order
to regulate the output voltage, control voltage VC varies steadily over
many cycles in response to load or line changes. With this constant
amp-seconds control, we can first assume:
(1)
For the off-time control, a current source proportional to the differ-
ence between the output and input voltage is employed. The current
is integrated and compared to a fixed voltage reference (VOFF) to
determine the cycle off-time. The volt-seconds for the off-time (tOFF)
can be expressed as:
1Kti ONin =⋅
P O W E R Q U A L I T Y
An Innovative, Simple, Green PFC Solution
Reliable, low component count, low-cost solution
Switch-mode power supplies are now used in almost all electronic systems due to theirgood line and load regulation, high conversion efficiency, and compact size. Unfortunate-
ly, switching power supplies are nonlinear components and can generate narrow, highamplitude pulses out of phase with the line voltage. The significant harmonic content ofthe current pulses, coupled with the reactive input of the power supply, tends to degrade
the AC source, causing EMI problems and energy loss.
By Edward Ong, Product Marketing Manager, Power Integrations, Inc. (San Jose, CA)
Figure 1: Constant amp-second and volt-second control diagram
35www.bodospower.com August 2011 Bodo´s Power Systems®
(2)
Since the volt-seconds during the on-time must equal the volt-sec-
onds during the off-time, to maintain flux equilibrium in the PFC
inductor, the on-time (tON) is controlled such that:
(3)
Substituting tON from (3) into (1) gives:
(4)
The relationship of (4) demonstrates that by controlling a constant
amp-second on-time and constant volt-second off-time, the input cur-
rent iin is proportional to the input voltage Vin, therefore providing
inherent power factor correction with very simple control circuitry.
Variable frequency continuous conduction mode (VF-CCM)
The plots shown in Figure 2 illustrate the resulting variation in fre-
quencies with input line voltage and output load. As the line voltage
increases, the voltage difference across the PFC inductor becomes
smaller, and a longer time is required for the off-time integrator to
reach the VOFF threshold. As the input voltage decreases, the off-time
integrator requires less time to satisfy the volt-second balance.
The switch-on time varies with the load. As the load increases, the
PFC switch current increases to meet the load demand. With the
increased switch current, the on-time integrator requires less time to
satisfy the amp-second balance. Consequently, the switching fre-
quency increases.
The variable switching feature of VF-CCM operation minimizes
switching losses by maintaining a low average switching frequency
and maximizes efficiency over the entire load range of the converter.
At light load, the off-time integrator control reference (VOFF) is modi-
fied by an internal error signal (VE), which is directly proportional to
the output power. The modified VOFF slope reduces the average fre-
quency further to minimize switching losses.
High efficiency at light load is a challenge for
traditional PFC CCM approaches in which
fixed MOSFET switching frequencies cause
fixed switching losses on each cycle, even
at light loads. Fixed frequency CCM opera-
tion is shown in Figure 3.
With the fixed frequency CCM design, the
sub-harmonic noise focuses on a few fixed
frequencies, making filtering EMI noise a
challenge. In variable frequency control, the
energy delivered in the switching pulses is
spread across a range of frequencies over the half AC line cycle.
This means that HiperPFS typically reduces the total X and Y capaci-
tance requirements of the converter and the inductance of both the
boost choke and EMI noise suppression chokes, reducing overall
system size and cost.
2
1
KKVi inin ⋅=
2KtV ONin =⋅
( )2
KtVVo OFFin =⋅−
Figure 3: Fixed switching frequency traditional CCM operation – input current Figure 4: Typical HiperPFS application schematic
Figure 2: Frequency variation with load and input voltage
Simplification of PFC design
Figure 4 shows a typical HiperPFS-based PFC application circuit.
The VF-CCM operation has eliminated the requirement for external
compensation networks, producing a very simple solution.
The voltage monitor pin (V) current is used internally to detect the
peak of the input line voltage. This drives the line feed forward func-
tion, maintaining a constant voltage feedback loop gain over the
operating input line range to improve line regulation and transient
response. HiperPFS combines other functions, such as power limit
and brown-in/brown-out protection.
By contrast, Figure 5 shows an example of a traditional CCM aver-
age current mode control. It needs a current amplifier and a compen-
sation network. The current sense resistor needs to be positioned in
series with the inductor current. In addition to the resistor power loss,
the noise sensitivity issue also becomes challenge, especially when
the inductor ripple current is low.
VF-CCM vs. critical conduction mode operation (CRM)
The CRM boost power factor converter operates at the boundary of
continuous conduction mode and discontinuous conduction mode.
Normally, the switch on-time is fixed, achieved by comparing the volt-
age loop error amplifier output voltage to a saw-tooth reference
waveform. When the levels match, the switch is turned off. The
switch is turned on when the inductor current falls to zero. As the
inductor value is fixed, the input current automatically tracks the input
voltage, therefore attaining power factor correction. The inductor cur-
rent is depicted in Figure 6.
CRM control shares some benefits with HiperPFS, such as simple
design with no current control compensation and variable switching
frequency. Selection of the freewheeling diode is not critical, as the
diode is turned off when the switch current is zero. However, there
are significant drawbacks that prevent CRM from being used in high-
er power PFC designs:
• CRM operation results in high peak current in the MOSFET and
freewheeling diode, therefore it requires higher current ratings for
the devices.
• There are higher switching and conduction power losses in the
MOSFET.
• CRM operation requires a larger core. Because it generates higher
peak-to-peak inductor current, this results in higher hysteresis loss-
es in the inductor and higher copper losses.
• CRM either needs a current sense resistor to sense zero inductor
current, or a zero current detection winding to turn on the MOSFET.
• Compared to a similar VF-CCM design, CRM operation generates
close to twice the peak current. This increases noise issues, incur-
ring more cost in the EMI filter elements.
CRM-based PFC ICs have been popular in low-power PFC designs,
as they are simple and allow the use of inexpensive freewheeling
diodes. However, HiperPFS is even simpler and offers many design
advantages, such as lower MOSFET conduction and switching loss-
es, lower diode conduction losses, lower inductor core and copper
losses, higher efficiency over load range, lower EMI and smaller EMI
filters, lower component count, and integrated protection features.
With the easy availability of ultrafast recovery rectifiers with soft
recovery characteristics, the HiperPFS VF-CCM mode of operation
presents the ideal solution for wide range of low-, medium-, and high-
power PFC applications.
Design example
A 347-watt PFC front-end converter, shown in Figure 7, has been
designed using a HiperPFS PFS714EG integrated PFC controller
and is the subject of a comprehensive qualification report (RDR-236).
The design example demonstrated is available to developers and can
be used as a reference for prototyping new designs.
36 Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
Figure 5: Traditional CCM average current mode control schematic
Figure 6: Critical conduction mode CCM operation – input current
Figure 7: 347 W HiperPFS front-end PFC converter
Figure 8: Efficiency vs. output power
P O W E R Q U A L I T Y
The design delivers greater than 95% efficiency from 10% to full load
(see Figure 8). The high efficiency enables the design to meet 80+
PC specification requirements.
The power supply operates at a high power factor of 0.998 at 115
VAC input full load and 0.984 at 230 VAC input full load (Figure 9). It
easily meets EN61000-3-2 Class C and D compliance with low har-
monic input current components (Figure 10).
Conclusion
The innovative constant amp-seconds and volt-seconds control con-
cept introduced with HiperPFS brings a brand new high-performance
PFC solution for the boost PFC converter. When compared with tradi-
tional CCM and CRM operation, HiperPFS offers power supply
designers a better choice with a simple, reliable, low component
count, low-cost solution.
References
Power Integrations PFS704-729EG HiperPFS Family Datasheet
Power Integrations Application Note AN-52, Application Note AN-53
Reference Design Report (RDR-236) for a High Performance 347 W
PFC Stage Using HiperPFS PFS714EG
L. Rossetto, G. Spiazzi, P. Tenti “Control Techniques for Power Factor
Correction Converters”
Lloyd H. Dixon, Jr. “High Power Preregulators for Off-Line Power
Supplies” TI-Unitrode slup087
www.powerint.com
www.bodospower.com
Figure 10: Amplitude of input current harmonics for 100% load at230VAC input
Figure 9: Input power factor vs. output power
38
Wireless sensor modules using energy harvesters instead of a bat-
tery are often embedded in aeroplane wings for structural analysis, in
car wheels to detect proper tyre pressure or in remote weather or
traffic measuring units. Such devices are more convenient and effi-
cient when powered wirelessly or self-powered. Three methods of
energy harvesting for this purpose are most common: inductive
charging, piezoelectric and thermal.
Inductive charging is an old technology, typically using transformers.
However, to transfer high power a long distance between two coils
there is new method called MIT Wireless Electricity. This technology
works by transmitting electricity as a magnetic field oscillating at a
specific frequency. Through a magnetically-coupled resonance, the
"receiver" can capture the electricity, making for an efficient and safe
method of over-the-air transfer. The thermal energy harvesting
method is a lucrative approach because it is a fully self-sustainable
form of DC power. Typically, a temperature differential is applied
across a Peltier cell power source.
Piezoelectric energy harvesting was developed using a piezoelectric
element and modern harvester controller/voltage converter. This
method is getting more popular because the performance of piezo
generators has been boosted and low power consumption semicon-
ductor controllers have emerged.
In order to evaluate the suitability of different technologies to fulfill the
storage function in a piezoelectric energy harvester circuit, the follow-
ing modern-technology parts were chosen:
· Tantalum-Polymer - good capacitance/ESR performance;
· Niobium-Oxide - high reliability/robustness;
· Tantalum-MnO2 - standard and low ESR types representing good
volumetric efficiency and long life;
· Professional Tantalum-MnO2 capacitor - increased reliability and low DCL;
· Ceramic multilayer - ultra-low ESR and low DCL.
Piezoelectric generator / Piezo principle
The development of piezoelectric materials has enabled the con-
struction of modern devices capable of generating sufficient voltages
and currents for energy harvesting. A piezoelectric element consists
of two conductors made of metal and piezoelectric material layers. In
order to create a generator, typically one end of the strip element
active zone is mechanically fixed and the opposite end is loaded with
small metal ballast to create a mechanical resonance system. The
mechanical system has tendency to vibrate at the resonant frequency
even when frequency of the actuating vibrations varies and is irregu-
lar, and maximum energy is produced at resonant frequency. Energy
generated by the voltage waveform is dependent mechanical deflec-
tion of the piezo element at the specific frequency.
Experimental solution
Initially, a frame for the chosen piezoelectric element, PFCB-W14
(Ref. 1), was constructed. The black end with output wires (Figure 1)
was mechanically fixed and the opposite end of the active zone was
placed 6mm above small electromagnet mounted to the base. As the
C A P A C I T O R S
Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
Storage Capacitor Propertiesand their Effect on Energy
Harvester PerformanceBest energy harvester performance using professional tantalum capacitors
The development of energy harvesters has quickened up in the last few years mainly dueto semiconductor improvements. But power sources for energy harvesters usually exhibithigh internal impedance and can therefore only deliver low currents. The most important
consideration for harvesting is that the power consumption of the controller circuitrymust be less than the energy generated by the power source. Energy harvesters use astorage capacitor slowly charged from power source through the controller and the
leakage current of this capacitor is wastes a certain percentage of the generated energy.
By Radovan Faltus, Miroslav Jane, Tomas Zednicek, Technical Marketing,AVX spol.s.r.o. Czech Republic
Figure 1: Experimental piezoelectric generator using PFCB-W14 element
40 Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
element’s body is made of a magnetic alloy, a small electromagnet
acts as a very good actuator, bending the piezo strip to cause an
amplitude of approximately 2mm at the end of active zone.
Electromagnetic inductance would act as a parasitic effect in this
experiment, but in this case, as the element core body does not
close any inductive loop it will not induce any voltage in the electro-
magnet coil, (proven by oscilloscope measurement for a fixed 0mm
mechanical amplitude). The electromagnet was actuated from a
square wave voltage generator with adjustable frequency. The fre-
quency was tuned in order to reach the mechanical self-resonance
that exhibited the highest efficiency measured by AC peak-to-peak
voltage. The highest no-load piezo element voltage Vpp = 31.4V was
reached at frequency fm = 28Hz, see oscillograph in Figure 2 (meas-
ured using an Agilent Infiniium oscilloscope 54830B (Ref. 4) as with
all other oscillographs.)
The internal resistance of the piezoelectric element is so high that it
causes significant voltage drop when the element is loaded. Figure 3
shows the oscillograph with the generated output voltage when
loaded by resistor R1 = 1kΩ. The RMS voltage Vrms1 = 37.3mV and
RMS current Irms1 = 37.3μA.
Energy harvesting circuit / Overview
A modern energy harvesting system consists of four main blocks (see
Figure 4):
• Energy source with an output current that is insufficient to use as a
direct power supply -therefore harvesting is required
• Rectifier to create DC voltage suitable for energy storage
• Energy storage circuit using storage capacitor
• DC/DC buck converter to transform the storage voltage to the
required output voltage
An energy generator behaves as a current source with a high internal
resistance. It charges an energy storage capacitor driven through a
rectifier. The storage capacitor voltage is measured using an under-
voltage lockout circuit which enables the function of the output
DC/DC converter when the stored energy is sufficient for converting
to the output; conversely, it blocks the function of the output DC/DC
converter when the stored energy is not sufficient for conversion.
Thus we can recognize two main phases in energy harvester func-
tionality: Charging/Output power-off and Output power-on.
Experimental solution
Figure 5 shows the actual measuring circuit using evaluation kit
DC1459B-A (Ref. 3), specially dedicated for piezoelectric energy har-
vesting with DC/DC converter LTC3588-1 (Ref. 2). The output volt-
age was set to 1.8V to feed an output load consisting of series resis-
tor RL = 2kΩ and red LED with threshold voltage Vt = 1.5V. The
series resistor was selected specifically to gain a resulting pulse ratio
(Charging phase/LED-On phase) of approximately 1:1 (see Figure 6).
The output voltage changed values between 1.5V (LED threshold
voltage – LED off) and 1.8V when the LED was emitting light driven
by current ILOn = 150μA. The storage capacitor voltage changed
between 4V (fully charged, ready to switch power to output) and 3V
(LED goes off).
Storage capacitors benchmarked
The capacitors selected for the benchmark were chosen to represent
different technologies exhibiting different levels of leakage current
(DCL) and Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR). The leakage current
of the capacitors was measured for steady state at 3.5V correspon-
C A P A C I T O R S
Figure 2: AC no-load output voltage of the PFCB-W14 piezo element
Figure 5: Schematic of the actual measuring circuit using evaluationkit DC1459B-A
Figure 6: Output voltage and Storage capacitor voltage showingCharging phase and LED-On phase. NOTE: 0V indicators (‘1’, ‘2’)
Figure 4: Principle of the energy harvesting system
Figure 3: AC output voltage of the PFCB-W14 piezo element whenloaded by 1kΩ resistor
ding to their voltage working range and the ESR was measured at fc
= 100Hz, close to the piezo-generator frequency fm = 28Hz. The
parameters of all the chosen capacitors are listed in Table 1. All the
capacitors have C = 22μF and rated voltage Vr = 16V (except Niobi-
um Oxide NOJ with VrN = 10V) in order to achieve the approximate
1:1 Charging/LED-On ratio and LED-On frequency suitable for oscil-
loscope measurement.
The effect of storage capacitor properties on the charging time
and the LED-On time
The measurement circuit using various different capacitors (see Table
1) positioned at C1 (Figure 5) exhibited different Charging and LED-
On phases of the working period as displayed on oscillographs (Fig-
ure 6 and 7), summarized in Table 2.
The leakage current of the capacitor affects the charging time of the
capacitor and also the usable output LED-On time. The lower the
leakage current the shorter the charging period and the longer the
LED-On emitting period. This relationship trend is displayed in green
in Figures 8 and 9. (The effect of ESR was not proven by these
measurements.)
Certain irregularities the relationship between static DCL and Charg-
ing time/LED-On time can be explained by actual leakage current
fluctuations during the working cycles, so the effective value can be
floating comparing to pre-measured steady state value.
Summary
The best perfomance was achieved with Tantalum TRJ professional
capacitor which exhibited a relatively low leakage current at working
voltage. The next best capacitor technology was MLCC. All other
technologies were some way behing when considering Charging time
performance. Tantalum-MnO2 capacitors - standard and low ESR
types (TAJ and TPS families) - exhibited slightly worse LED-On time
than all other technologies.
Conclusion
Practical experiment has confirmed a low leakage current (DCL) as
the most important parameter when determining which storage
capacitor technology to use for energy harvesting applications. Low
leakage current is especially important when the energy source deliv-
ers low currents that are not significantly higher than the DCL itself,
and when the required output power-on time is comparable with the
charging time or longer. The ESR of the capacitors tested did not
produce any noticeable effect on energy harvester performance.
Based on the results published in this article, the best balanced com-
bination of low DCL, sufficient capacitance and electrical parameter
stability - which resulted in best energy harvester performance - was
achieved using TRJ professional tantalum capacitors, which feature
improved dielectrics.
References1] Parameters of Advanced Cerametrics piezoelectric element,
http://www.advancedcerametrics.com/pages/product_line
2] Datasheet of Linear Technology LTC3588-1 piezoelectric energy harvesting
power supply,
http://cds.linear.com/docs/Datasheet/35881fa.pdf
3] Maual and description of Linear Technology DC1459B-A evaluation kit,
http://www.linear.com/demo/DC1459B-A
4] Agilent Infiniium oscilloscope 54830B datasheet,
http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datasheet2/9/0o4ptsp0alkuqg2rh3tp0wy3expy.pdf
www.avx.com
42 Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
C A P A C I T O R S
Table 1: List of selected storage capacitors and their observedparameters
Table 3: Performance of the energy harvester with various storagecapacitors
Table 2: Charging time and LED-On time values for benchmarkedstorage capacitors
Figure 7: Output and Storage capacitor voltage showing Chargingand LED-On phase for Professional Tantalum capacitorTRJB226M016R
Figure 9: Storage capacitor DCL effect on LED-On time
Figure 8: Storage capacitor DCL effect on charging time
44 Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
Required Production Technology
The direct mounting of dies (e.g. IGBT or
diodes) on a basis substrate has established
as technology for producing integrated
power electronics. The required electric con-
nections are implemented by a large solder-
ing area on the dies’ bottom sides and addi-
tionally by parallelised bond connections at
their top sides. Very often, the basis sub-
strate is soldered on a heat sink to lead
away power dissipation, occurring during the
regular operation of such modules. In the
case of utilising such power control, e.g. for
electronic drives of hybrid vehicles, the heat
sink is additionally integrated in the vehicle’s
cooling water circuit.
Figure 1 shows the schematic system layout
of an integrated power module.
Open Doors for Excess Heat
Power modules must be highly reliable and
of long product life. That’s why maximum
heat transfer must be guaranteed from the
soldered die to the heat sink. The required
thermal coupling is mainly achieved by a low
thermal resistivity. Voids play a decisive role
in this quality criterion within solder connec-
tions. Especially in large-scale solder joints,
which may cover an area of up to 25cm², the
development of enclosed gases is difficult.
As a frequent result, voids of different sizes
and positions remain within this connection.
In terms of thermal coupling, they may lead
to the module‘s malfunction or even destruc-
tion in the operation mode. Quality control
during the production process therefore is
imperative.
Making the Invisible Visible
In the current state of technology, there are
few opportunities to detect voids after the
soldering process. A 100% test within the
production cycle even limits the selection of
test technologies. Acoustic microscopy as
well as computer tomography by means of
an x-ray analysis system can be excluded
for an efficient utilisation because of the time
scales required for image capturing and sub-
sequent evaluation.
In principle, the x-ray technology has proven
to be effective for solder joint analysis on
electronic assemblies, and has widely been
used for quality control in the inline produc-
tion process. But in the present case this
inspection technology faces new challenges:
• Safe and high-res detection of voids in rel-
evant solder joints
• Separation of voids in various layers
• Determination of quality affecting parame-
ters for each solder layer (void, sum of all
voids, local distribution of voids)
• Inspection in mounted state (e.g. with heat
sink)
• 100% inspection in the production cycle
It’s quite easy to recognise that common 2D
and 2.5D x-ray inspection systems are
unsuitable for such test tasks. A view to an
orthogonally or angularly radiated PCB
makes it clear (Figure 2). In the taken pic-
M E A S U R E M E N T
Safe Inspection of Dangerous VoidsSignificantly different quality criteria are set for the thermal coupling
of die and basis material as well as basis material and heat sink
Wind energy, solar electricity, electro mobility … these catchwords are met continuallyand never before had such a global importance as today. In addition to all the advantagesand safety that were enabled by these development tendencies, they put high demands tothe development of required electronic components. In particular in the area of electro
mobility, there is the necessity of miniaturized power electronics complementing the actu-al control tasks for electronic and hybrid drives. Due to the economic production of largeyields, the manufacturing technology faces new challenges. This also includes requiredtest methods to enable a fault-free but efficient quality assurance. High level inspection
technologies, e.g. 3D x-ray analysis, are required and also face new challenges.
By Jens Kokott, Senior Manager Optical Inspection (AOI/AXI), Göpel
Figure 1: System layout of an integratedpower module (Image provided by IndiumCorporation)
Figure 2: X-ray image of an orthogonally orangularly radiated PCB
Skilful Inspection Bit by Bit
The only remaining method for quality assur-
ance is the 3D x-ray inspection technology
by complete reconstruction of the single lay-
ers. This methodology also faces particular
challenges in the actual case, and not every
system is able to solve this sophisticated
test task. A critical reason is the already
mounted heat sink that features structures
for a possibly large contact surface with the
cooling medium especially for the integration
in a cooling water circuit. These structures
cause different x-ray absorptions being visi-
ble as a fault in the reconstructed result
image. Similarly, solder joint sizes as well as
the undefined position and dimension of
voids effect such artefacts when utilising
standard reconstruction methods.
Due to the mentioned requirements, the 3D
x-ray inspection system OptiCon X-Line 3D
(Figure 3) was enhanced to enable adapted
image capturing and a layer-wise recon-
struction.
In the further inspection process, the cap-
tured images (Figure 4 and 5) allow for an
automatic void detection in each layer
including classification in terms of quality
parameters separately determined for the
respective layers. Furthermore, there is the
opportunity to survey and evaluate faults at
a verification station.
In addition to the mentioned opportunities,
the AXI system OptiCon X-Line 3D suits for
the inline inspection of double-sided
equipped PCBs. In just one run all PCB
layer information is available and can be
individually reconstructed for automatic
analyses. This characteristic provides the
opportunity to break down critical solder
joints (e.g. under BGAs) into single layers for
detailed automatic analysis. Hence, a com-
plete 3D x-ray inspection in the production
cycle provides the basis for a comprehen-
sive quality analysis and the highest produc-
tion quality.
www.goepel.com
45www.bodospower.com August 2011 Bodo´s Power Systems®
M E A S U R E M E N T
tures voids are visible but cannot be referred to a specific solder
layer. But in particular this classification is of the highest importance
because significantly different quality criteria are set for the thermal
coupling of die and basis material as well as basis material and heat
sink. Consequently, an evaluation of voids detected with a 2D or
2.5D method would lead to fault escapes or massively increased
false rejects of the device.
Figure 4 and 5: Layers between die basismaterial and basis material heat sink sepa-rated with adapted reconstruction method
Figure 3: Inline x-rayinspection systemOptiCon X-Line 3D
46 Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
Being involved with switch mode power sup-
ply design for over 40 years, you learn what
works and what doesn’t. What once seemed
like quite complex theory becomes second
nature and you instinctively have a feel for
what is required to make a design work.
But working in the lab as a prototype is one
thing. Working faultlessly for the next 20
years is quite another. It’s feedback that the
design engineer seldom has the opportunity
to benefit from. You rarely see the end appli-
cation, let alone the condition of the compo-
nents after years of operation in an industrial
environment.
This is probably of little concern to the glut of
far eastern manufacturers with products at
throw-away prices. But there are still plenty
of applications where long term reliability
and build quality are paramount, and this
remains a stronghold of UK design and man-
ufacturing. Let’s face it, if you are manufac-
turing in the UK and you are not focusing on
quality - you are dead in the water.
Of course, there are a host of general
parameters that effect long term reliability of
a power supply. Fundamental circuit design,
component selection, mechanical construc-
tion, assembly process, storage and han-
dling all play a big role. However these tend
to be well appreciated at the design and
manufacturing stages.
Looking at things from the service return
side gives the engineer an entirely new per-
spective. It allows a unique appreciation of
what, in practice causes power supplies to
fail in the field.
And it’s not always obvious.
Electrolytic Capacitors
The drying out of wet electrolytic capacitors
is perhaps one the most widely recognised
causes of age related failure, and it is cer-
tainly prevalent. Modern demands for ever
decreasing can sizes result in thinner dielec-
tric materials and less volume of electrolyte.
Although the loss of electrolyte is by some
means the natural wear out mechanism, it
can be slowed considerably by reducing the
core operating temperature of the capacitor.
Locating caps away from other high dissipa-
tion components is one obvious example,
but the core temperature is also very much
influenced by the ripple current flowing
through the ESR (equivalent series resist-
ance), namely the electrolyte. A typical
105°C rated capacitor has a ripple current
rating in a 105°C ambient, giving a core tem-
perature of approx. 115°C. The specified
load life under these conditions can be as
low as 1,000 hours (42days), although in
practise most caps will continue to operate
for longer than this, albeit with reduced
capacitance and or higher ESR.
Most practical applications do not subject
passive components to more than 50°C, so it
can be tempting to increase the ripple cur-
rent above the rated maximum. This is not
recommended because the temperature rise
is proportional to the square of the ripple
current multiplied by the ESR. Because ESR
increases with time, end of life failure will
occur sooner than for a cap operating at
105°C and maximum rated ripple current.
Output capacitors on small ‘flyback’ power
supplies, operating in the discontinuous cur-
rent mode are especially vulnerable to early
failure due to the large ripple currents inher-
ent in this topology, so they need specifying
carefully. By comparison, continuous current
flyback and ‘forward’ converters have typical-
ly a 20% peak to peak current ripple com-
pared to the 100% of the discontinuous
mode flyback converter.
Conversely, small (approximately 6 x 12mm)
electrolytic caps commonly used in power
supply control circuitry can cause problems
in high local ambient temperatures, even
when run at very small ripple currents.
These capacitors are often used in conjunc-
tion with a high resistance connected to a
HT rail to provide a start-up supply to the
control circuit. Due to the very small amount
of electrolyte they contain, they can dry out
before any other component fails and pre-
vent the power supply starting at turn on due
to high impedance or current leakage. Often
this can go completely unnoticed until the
first mains blackout and subsequent restart
attempt.
Careful electrolytic capacitor selection is
becoming increasingly important as more
and more far-eastern manufactured compo-
nents enter the market and it is important to
pay a good deal of attention to the detailed
specification of such components. Cutting
costs by using inferior capacitors is rarely
money well saved when it results in a dra-
matic reduction in service life, potentially
high warranty costs and a blemished reputa-
tion. Better cooling, larger capacitors or
solid electrolyte capacitors are alternative
solutions. Niobium solid electrolyte caps are
a cheaper alternative to tantalum caps,
which are becoming more expensive as tan-
talum reserves diminish. If you must use wet
electrolytics, as most of us do, ignore ripple
current at your peril!
Film Capacitors
It is not often appreciated that the ac rms
voltage rating of film capacitors must be
greatly de-rated for frequencies above
D E S I G N A N D S I M U L A T I O N
Design for LifeThe pitfalls of reliable power supply design
The article talks about how experiences is leading a power supply repair house to enabetheir engineering team to offer ultra reliable bespoke DC power supply designs and how
you can avoid some of the pitfalls.
By Paul Horner, Managing Director of Advance Product Services Ltd.
Figure 1: Electrolytic Capacitor
www.bodospower.com June 2011 Bodo´s Power Systems®
approximately 1kHz. A popular cap, rated at
400Vdc & 250Vac is specified at just 1Vac
maximum at 100kHz, so it can be easy to
exceed the high frequency ac voltage rating
in a power circuit. The image below is the
result of exceeding the HF ac voltage rating
of a 470nF 250Vac cap.
Film caps are also vulnerable to failure as a
result of exceeding the repetitive rate of
change of voltage (dV/dt). Metallised poly-
ester snubber caps across switching semi-
conductors have been found to fail due to
excessive dV/dt, where the use of polypropy-
lene, ceramic or foil film would have been
preferable.
Surface Mount Multilayer Ceramic Capac-
itors (SMD MLC)
The larger sizes (1812, 2220) of SMD multi-
layer ceramic caps are prone to failure when
mounted on fibre glass or composite PCBs
due to the different coefficients of thermal
expansion of the cap and the substrate.
These components can fail short circuit with
devastating consequences if they are con-
nected across a power rail.
All sizes, but more especially the larger
ones, are prone to failure due to mechanical
stress. An example encountered recently
used several SMD MLC caps under a dc
power output screw terminal block which
was subject to flex whenever the terminal
was pressed down by tightening or loosen-
ing the screws. The subsequent fracture of
the cap burnt a hole right through the pcb
due to the fact that the ceramic cap body
remains mostly intact even when red hot.
Avoid large SMD MLC caps on circuit boards
involved with large thermal cycling unless
the substrates are matched, and never place
in areas of mechanical flex or stress.
Power MOSFETs
Generally speaking, power semiconductors
are among the group of components least
prone to ageing effects. Assuming they are
used within their maximum ratings and are
well thermally managed they are very reli-
able. However they account for more than
half of all service return failures.
Typically this is because their maximum rat-
ings have been exceeded through knock-on
effects of other component failures, poor cir-
cuit design, environmental influences such
as spike or surge, over-temperature or
mechanical stress.
In terms of the circuit design however, there
are subtleties that can contribute to a sur-
prisingly large proportion of failures which
tend to be are far less well appreciated:
47www.bodospower.com August 2011 Bodo´s Power Systems®
D E S I G N A N D S I M U L A T I O N
Figure 2: Film Capacitor
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Problems can occur in MOSFETS where a
high rate of rise of drain to source voltage
(dVds/dt) causes capacitive charging of the
FET gate. This can switch the FET back on
while it is turning off—usually a destructive
event! This is especially problematic where
the “off” drive connects the gate to a voltage
slightly above zero, rather than to a negative
potential. A negative drive holds the gate
well below the threshold voltage as the
drain-source cap charges and generally pro-
vides a much more robust solution. It should
be noted that the gate threshold voltage typi-
cally reduces to less than 70% of its 25°C
value at maximum junction temperature.
A high dVds/dt can also cause the parasitic
transistor (present in the construction of all
FET devices) to turn on, especially at high
temperature where more thermally generat-
ed minority carriers exist within it. If the body
diode of the FET is used to clamp the drain
to source voltage (as in a zero voltage
switching ‘ZVS’ resonant converter), its
reverse recovery time can be very long. This
is due to the FET body diode only being
moderately fast and the fact that the reverse
voltage is only the “on” voltage the FET, typi-
cally around 1V. As the body diode is in fact
the collector-base junction of the parasitic
transistor, the unrecovered charge carriers
cause the parasitic transistor to turn on
when Vds rises rapidly, allowing large cur-
rents to flow in the device. To make matters
worse, the diode recovery time is even
longer at higher temperatures.
There is a final scenario which sounds like it
has come straight from science fiction! It is
known as Single Event Burnout (SEB). SEB
research carried out as long ago as 1996
showed that a high voltage MOSFET, biased
off, supporting a voltage near to its maxi-
mum rating can suffer an avalanche failure
caused by a single sub atomic particle collid-
ing with a silicon nucleus. Subsequent
research has shown that even at ground level,
neutrons from cosmic ray collisions in the
upper atmosphere can cause random failures
in high voltage MOSFETs over and above the
rate predicted by MTBF data from manufactur-
er’s life tests. Reducing the maximum Vds by
even 6% has been shown to decrease SEB
failures by an order of magnitude.
All the above scenarios are exacerbated by
high junction temperature, so there is much
to be gained from running FETS well below
their maximum temperature and voltage rat-
ings, and careful consideration is needed if
the body diode is utilised in the application.
Optocoupler Ageing
Most designers have a good appreciation of
electrolytic capacitor ageing, but we also see
many age related failures due to optocou-
plers. Generally this manifests itself as a
reduction in the effective current transfer
ratio (CTR) over time. This doesn’t sound
too serious until you recognise that optos
are commonly used to enable the converter
stage of a power supply across a primary to
secondary isolation barrier. A degraded opto
can and often does render the entire power
supply inoperable and as such can be con-
sidered a high failure risk.
The primary piece parts of an optocoupler are
a photo-detector IC and an infrared emitting
LED (typically Gallium Arsenide). Experimen-
tal analysis has shown that the LED is the
only portion of the optocoupler that has a sig-
nificant impact on life, with light output degra-
dation leading to a decrease in CTR. Further-
more, it is the actual current through the LED
which is by far the most dominant factor.
Figure 3: REF Opto_ageing.jpg
D E S I G N A N D S I M U L A T I O N
For longest possible service life therefore, it is desirable to allow at
least 50% margin for a reduction in CTR over time and to drive the
LED at as low a current as possible for the required CTR.
Spike & Surge
The majority of engineers are aware of the catastrophic effects of
high transient energies on the input and output lines of a power sup-
ply. Indeed, voltage fluctuations on the local grid are commonplace
and the variance in the quality of the AC mains from location to loca-
tion can be surprisingly large. However, a typical power supply which
meets EN 61000-4-5 (basic immunity test for surge) does not guaran-
tee low susceptibility in the field.
The financial rewards of producing reliable products over and above
the basic EMC standard are usually very worthwhile. A certain UK
manufacturer saw their warranty costs fall by £2.7million per year
after spending less than £100K on improved immunity.
In the UK at least, a relatively small proportion of energy fluctuations
on the grid originate from lightning strikes. Contrary to popular belief
it is not a direct strike which causes the most problems, but the volt-
age induced on overhead lines from the magnetic field of indirect
strikes. Some of the largest discharges have been confirmed at
>200,000A and there are often several discharges per strike. You
could probably even measure some transient voltage induced in a
paper clip lying on your desk within 500m of a storm if you were
quick enough with the scope! <Feature quotation>
Buildings in Europe whose AC power is carried by overhead wires
can reckon on having 80-120 surges every year due to lightning.
These are typically limited to around 6kV because the standard
domestic style mains socket flashes over at the rear connectors at
around this voltage and acts like a spark gap suppressor! Industrial
premises with only 3ph supplies can see much more. A modest strike
of 15,000A would induce around 10kV on a transmission line 150m
away (even when buried in the ground). Heavy industrial switchgear,
large photocopiers & laser printers, HVAC systems, electric motors
and thyristor devices are all notorious for imposing spike and surge
on transmission lines, and not always at lower energies than lightning
strikes.
It is not widely appreciated that even if such transient energies do not
cause instant catastrophic failure, repeated exposure has a proven
degenerative effect, particularly with highly integrated silicon devices.
Call it transient ageing if you will. It has a significant impact on long
term reliability.
In all cases, a well-considered surge protection stage is essential but
is often overlooked or poorly optimised. Indeed, there are a great
many variables to consider and not every engineer appreciates the
subtleties of the various protection devices available.
Looking specifically at the input of an AC-DC power supply, it is desir-
able to place surge protection devices in both the line-to-line and line
to earth positions, giving both common and differential mode protec-
tion. Metal oxide varistors (MOV’s) or VDR’s, are the most commonly
used device in low-cost applications. However, a MOV may not be
able to successfully limit a very large surge from an event such as a
lightning strike where the energy involved is many orders of magni-
tude greater than it can handle. We have seen many designs where
the power supply has a scattering of varistors on the input with no
sacrificial protection (e.g. a dedicated thermal fuse). The result is that
the first high energy surge to arrive either causes the varistors to
explode, often accompanied by a large plasma discharge which
D E S I G N A N D S I M U L A T I O N
destroys everything else in the vicinity, or the main input fuse to blow.
Either way the power supply fails and has to be returned for service
the same way as if there were no protection fitted at all!
An important characteristic to consider with MOV’s is that they
degrade when exposed to a few large transients or many smaller
ones. As they degrade, their trigger voltage falls lower and lower, ulti-
mately leading to thermal runaway of that particular device. Therefore
to ensure good long term reliability, correct voltage rating is essential.
It is also worth noting that selecting a device with a higher energy
(joule) rating typically increases the life expectancy exponentially.
It is common to see multiple MOV’s in parallel to increase the overall
joule rating of the network, however unless specifically matched sets
are used, each MOV will have a slightly different non-linear response
when exposed to the same overvoltage. This invariably leads to cur-
rent hogging and premature failure of the individual device.
Thus the ‘effective’ surge energy of the network is dependent on the
MOV with the lowest clamping voltage, and the additional parallel
MOV’s do not provide any benefit. Furthermore, because each MOV
has a relatively high leakage current (typically around 0.5mA at work-
ing voltage for a 20mm device), using many devices in parallel can
lead to unacceptably high earth leakage currents.
The other two devices commonly used in protection networks are
transient voltage suppressor diodes (commonly referred to as Tran-
sorbs and also sold under the name Transil) and gas filled discharge
tubes (GDT’s). Whereas the practical response times of MOV’s are in
the 40-60ns range, suppressor diodes respond to spikes within 1 - 10
pico-seconds, mostly limited by the inductance of the connecting cir-
cuitry. This makes diodes ideal for suppressing sub-nanosecond
spikes generated by the many thyristor controlled devices sat on the
mains supply. Sub-nanosecond spikes show up, do their damage,
and are gone before MOV’s even notice.
Diodes also have the added benefit that they do not degrade with
repeated surges which means they can be selected with clamping
voltages much nearer to the AC working voltage than with MOV’s.
The disadvantage of suppressor diodes is that they offer a lower
‘cost/energy handling’ ratio in comparison to other devices and they
tend to be physically larger for the same energy rating. However, if
space and cost are not critical, they are one of the most effective
devices available for suppressing fast energy transients.
Gas discharge tubes consist of two electrodes surrounded by a special
gas mixture in a sealed glass or ceramic enclosure. The gas is ionized
by a high voltage spike which causes an arc to form between the elec-
trodes and current to flow. GDT’s can conduct more current for their
size compared to diodes and MOV’s but are crucially different in that
they continue to conduct until the source voltage has dropped close to
zero. This has huge implications for DC and indeed has to be consid-
ered carefully for AC whereby it is quite possible to have a full half
cycle of mains energy to absorb in addition to the initial spike or surge
energy. It is critical therefore that this follow-on current is controlled.
50 Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
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D E S I G N A N D S I M U L A T I O N
Like MOV’s, gas discharge tubes have a finite life and can only han-
dle a few very large transients. The typical failure mode is a modified
trigger voltage or, if subject to very high energies, a dead short.
GDT’s take a relatively long time to trigger; 100nS pulses 500v above
rated voltage will often be completely unsuppressed. However, gas
discharge tubes offer the highest energy handling capabilities of all
protection devices and have exceptionally low capacitance.
By far the most effective suppression networks utilise a combination
of components to give high energy, high current capability with a very
fast response time. Parallel devices are to be avoided unless using
specifically matched sets and thermally vulnerable devices must be
protected by dedicated components.
Any design which neglects a well optimised surge and spike suppres-
sion network can expect substantially increased failures rates in the
field.
www.advanceproductservices.co.uk
51www.bodospower.com August 2011 Bodo´s Power Systems®
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Premo has introduced a series of Hall Effect
sensors called DSR5 designed for a single
supply voltage of +5V. DSR5 family is a
close loop technology component in a very
small package for THT mounting. Primary
winding is already integrated, which allows
to measure DC, AC and pulse currents on
printed circuit boards.
Key characteristic of this series is that
includes an external pin that allows access
to the internal reference (2.5V). This pin can
be used as an output or input signal to be
used by microcontrollers providing better off-
set control at cero current.
This series has been designed for nominal
currents of 6, 15, 25 and 50Amps. The multi-
pin configuration allows different range of
nominal currents by connecting 1, 2 or 3
pins in the primary winding.
The output signal is centered at 2.5V with an
output voltage of ±0.625 V at nominal input
currents, but the design allows detecting cur-
rents up to 3 times nominal current.
It also provides a linearity <0.1% with a
±0.7% accuracy levels. Bandwidth is up to
150 kHz with a response time below 0.5us.
Offset drift versus temperature is as low as
0.3% mV/ºC and consumption of the circuit
is only 20mA at no current condition.
The current sensor is specially designed to
meet the highest safety requirements. It is
fully isolated with plastic housing, meeting
isolation values higher than 3000 Vac.
It is fully compliant to industrial standards:
www.grupopremo.com
Hall Effect Sensors with Input Reference Pin
Fischer Elektronik offers a special processing method which makes it
possible to combine contact surfaces made from copper (? = 380
W/m•k) with the heatsink in a positive-fit manner. The material thick-
ness, number, geometry and the position of copper surfaces are all
customized to meet the customer's specifications. Milling is used to
ensure a surface with outstanding quality in terms of flatness and
roughness for mounting semiconductor components or as a support.
Solutions for the dissipation of heat from high-grade electronic com-
ponents which are thermotechnically optimised often require materi-
als with maximum thermal conductivity. Especially in the case of tran-
sient thermal input and small thermal input surfaces, the effective
cooling of electronic components requires that the component rapidly
absorbs the heat produced and transmits it for instance to a heatsink.
For such applications,
www.fischerelektronik.de
Heatsinks Made from Aluminium Combined with Copper
Richardson RFPD, Inc., announced the
release of an online tool designed to make
selecting and ordering Test & Measurement
components easier and less time consum-
ing. The new RF Test & Measurement Prod-
uct Selector from Richardson RFPD pro-
vides engineers, technicians and buyers with
an extensive selection of RF testing compo-
nents, cable assemblies, and accessories
from the industry's top brands.
Four interactive matrices provide easy-click
access to the latest products from the lead-
ing manufacturers of Cables & Connectors,
Amplifiers & Passives, Electromechanical
Devices and Test Lab Kits. Each matrix
offers a wide range of standard series RF
testing components ready for online ordering
and rapid delivery.
Customers with specific needs can use the
RF Test & Measurement Product Selector to
find the best parts for their test lab or factory
testing environment, including Test Cable
Assemblies (0-110 GHz), Adapters, Connec-
tors, DC Blocks, Amplifiers, Attenuators,
Couplers, Coaxial Switches, Dividers/Com-
biners, Heat Sinks, Terminations, and a vari-
ety of RF component Test Lab Kits. A majori-
ty of parts included in the Product Selector
are normally stock items.
Each Selector matrix is organized by product
type, making it easy to compare parametric
attributes across products from multiple
manufacturers or to evaluate products from
one particular supplier. Customers will find
Richardson RFPD carries RF testing compo-
nents from the industry’s leading suppliers,
including Aeroflex/Inmet, American Technical
Ceramics (ATC), Anaren, Bomar Intercon-
nect, Carlisle Interconnect Technologies,
Emerson Network Power, Gore,
HUBER+SUHNER, Johanson Manufactur-
ing, M/A-COM Technology Solutions, Radiall,
Teledyne Coax, Tyco Electronics, Wakefield,
and many more.
www.richardsonrfpd.com
www.rell.com/test
Online Tool Offers Everything in One Place for RF Testing
N E W P R O D U C T S
UltraVolt, Inc. announced it has redefined its
high-voltage power supply line by introduc-
ing two enhanced interface options: the –I5
Option and the –I10 Option. Currently, the
–I5 and –I10 Options are available on the
AA Series and High Power C Series, but
UltraVolt plans to offer the options on many
additional product lines.
After listening to the needs of high-voltage
power supply (HVPS) customers, UltraVolt
created the –I5 and –I10 Options of alternate
standard interfaces. These new interfaces
are optimized for connecting the HVPS to
computers and programmable logic con-
trollers (PLC) in process systems and capital
equipment, which are typically standardized
on 0 to +5VDC and +10VDC signals and
controls.
The options include buffered, low output
impedance current and voltage monitors,
and they have a programming accuracy of
±1%. Remote programming for all polarities
and all modes is 0 to +5V (-I5) or 0 to +10V
(-I10), and the options also feature a +5V (-
I5) or +10V (-I10) reference, ±0.05%
PPM/°C. As an added benefit, the enhanced
interfaces offer constant voltage, constant
current (CVCC) auto-crossover and have
current and voltage mode indicators.
www.ultravolt.com
High-Voltage Power Supply Line with Enhanced Interface Options
HelioProtection® Program by Mersen pur-
sues its extension. Besides the existing pro-
gram of gPV string and main fuses, DC &
AC Surge-Trap® Surge Protective Devices
(SPDs), DC switches and junction boxes,
Mersen adds a new solution: PV String Mon-
itoring.
PV String Monitoring offering of Mersen
includes: Electronic module for monitoring
the power efficiency of PV installations and
the status of key components as well Helio-
Protection® Junction Boxes fitted with the
module.
These monitoring solutions are dedicated to
the mid and large scale PV installations
where the number of strings are high (office
and industrial buildings, ground-mounted
solar arrays).
HelioProtection® Program by Mersen is
combination of the solutions that have been
designed for the specific solar photovoltaic
applications. A team of Mersen’s experts is
helping the customer to select and apply the
proper solution.
www.mersen.com
Smart PV Monitoring, Extension of HelioProtection® Program
You receive more information at phone +49 711 61946-828 or [email protected]
Products and solutions, innovations and trends.
Your free entry ticket
N E W P R O D U C T S
54 Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
Microchip announces the 60 MIPS 16-bit dsPIC® Digital Signal Con-
trollers (DSCs) and PIC24 microcontrollers (MCUs). Based on the
next-generation core, the 60 MIPS dsPIC33 and PIC24 ‘E' devices
introduce more memory and higher integration compared to dsPIC
DSCs and PIC24 MCUs with the previous-generation core. This
includes 536 KB of Flash memory, 52 KB RAM, greater I/O capability
with 144-pin packages, a USB 2.0 OTG interface, and expanded
motor-control, graphics, audio, and real-time embedded-control capa-
bilities.
To support the first nine dsPIC33 and PIC24 ‘E’ devices, Microchip
has launched two USB Starter Kits and five Plug-In Modules (PIMs)
which can be used with its Multimedia Expansion Board, motor-con-
trol development kits, and Explorer 16 development platforms. Also
available are 30 software libraries and application notes on topics
such as speech and audio, encryption/decryption, communications,
and motor control. The new devices and comprehensive support
package help customers to create high-performance designs in less
time.
The USB Starter Kit (DM330012) and PIC24E USB Starter Kit
(DM240012) priced at $65 each, can be used for stand-alone devel-
opment and also with Microchip development platforms such as the
Multimedia Expansion Board (DM320005) to develop high-impact
user interfaces.
www.microchip.com/get/BDKV
60 MIPS Enhanced Core dsPIC33 Digital Signal Controllers
National Semiconductor Corp. introduced the industry’s first 100V
half-bridge gate driver optimized for use with enhancement-mode
Gallium-Nitride (GaN) power field-effect transistors (FETs) in high-
voltage power converters. National’s new LM5113 is a highly-inte-
grated, high-side and low-side GaN FET driver that reduces compo-
nent count by 75 percent and shrinks printed circuit board (PCB)
area by up to 85 percent compared to discrete driver designs.
Designers of power bricks and communications infrastructure equip-
ment require high power efficiency in the smallest form factor.
Enhancement-mode GaN FETs enable new levels of efficiency and
power density compared to standard metal-oxide semiconductor
field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) due to their low on-resistance
(Rdson) and gate charge (Qg) as well as their ultra-small footprint,
but driving them reliably presents significant new challenges. Nation-
al’s LM5113 driver integrated circuit (IC) eliminates these challenges,
enabling power designers to realize the benefits of GaN FETs in a
variety of popular power topologies.
www.national.com
100V Half-Bridge Gate Driver for Enhancement-Mode Gallium-Nitride Power FETs
Toshiba Electronics Europe (TEE) has announced an ultra-compact,
extended temperature photocoupler that will help designers to meet
safety isolation requirements while saving board space in robotics,
conveyors and many other industrial power and motion control appli-
cations.
The TLP104 photocoupler is supplied in an S06 package and fea-
tures a minimum isolation voltage rating of 3750Vrms. Along with a
guaranteed extended temperature operation of -40ºC to 125°C, this
combination of size and isolation rating allows designers to minimise
the space required for the isolation interfaces between high-voltage
and logic circuitry in a variety of industrial motor control and inverter-
based designs.
www.toshiba-components.com
Ultra-Compact Photocoupler for Industrial Motor Control and Inverters
C O N T E N T S
55www.bodospower.com August 2011 Bodo´s Power Systems®
TDK-EPC, a group
company of the TDK
Corporation, is pre-
senting three new
sample kits of ceramic
PTC thermistors from
EPCOS. The compo-
nents of the sample kit
“SMD PTC Thermistors
for Limit Temperature
Sensing/Superior
Series” are designed for use as temperature sensors, for instance in
LED lamps, power supplies and notebooks. The kit contains samples
for sizes 0402, 0603 and 0805 across the temperature range
between 75 and 145 °C in steps of 10 K. All thermistors are certified
to AEC-Q200 and are suitable for reflow and wave soldering.
The sample kit “SMD PTC Thermistors for Overcurrent Protection”
contains components for surge current protection applications. They
are used as self-resetting fuses and as such limit currents to uncriti-
cal values in the event of overload or short circuit. These thermistors
are available in sizes 0603, 1210, 3225 and 4032.
The components in the sample kit “PTC Thermistors for Inrush Cur-
rent Limiters” are suitable as inrush current limiters in AC-DC invert-
ers, frequency converters, air-conditioning systems, pumps and all
other equipment that exposes the power line to high inrush currents.
www.epcos.com/samplekit
Sample Kits for Ceramic PTC Thermistors
CUI Inc announced a new addition to its high resolution, low-cost
AMT encoder line with the AMT303LD series. The encoder gener-
ates standard U/V/W commu-
tation signals for vectoring
current to brushless motors.
Resolution can be set through
the AMT303 Demo Kit. Com-
mutation output can accom-
modate brushless motors with
2, 4, 6, 8, 10 or 20 pole pairs,
and is also selectable via the
AMT303LD Demo Board.
The AMT303LD offers compli-
mentary incremental A/A, B/B,
and Z/Z channels for various servo positioning and startup
sequences. Additional options include nine mounting patterns and
ten bore sizes, creating a flexible platform that is able to accommo-
date many industry standard motors.
The AMT303LD generates position information using CUI’s patented,
capacitive code generation system coupled with a proprietary ASIC.
This technology is immune to environmental particulates and magnet-
ic interference, creating a reliable, economical and stable control and
positioning solution. The encoder consumes a maximum 10 mA at 5
Vdc, making it ideal for any application where power consumption is
a concern.
www.amtencoder.com/Product/AMT303
Commutation Encoder Series Adds Line Driver Output
Power Your Recognition InstantlyBased in Munich, Germany, ITPR Information-Travels Public Relations is a full-service consultancy
with over a decade of experience in the electronics sector.
As a small exclusive agency, we offer extremely high ROI,
no-nonsense flexibility and highest priority to only a handful of companies.
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Media Training, Business Development, Partnerships, Channel Marketing, Online Marketing
Tactical PRWriting: Press Releases, Feature Articles, Commentaries, Case Studies, White Papers
Organizing: Media Briefings, Road Shows, Product Placements in Reviews and Market Overviews,
Exhibitions, Press Conferences
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Media Coverage, Competitive Analysis
Translations: Releases, By-Lined Articles, Websites, etc.
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can dramatically affect your company’s bottom line.
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Stefanusstrasse 6a, 82166 Gräfelfing-Munich, Germany
Tel ++49 (89) 898687-20, Fax ++49 (89) 898687-21,
w w w . i n f o r m a t i o n - t r a v e l s . c o m
56 Bodo´s Power Systems® August 2011 www.bodospower.com
N E W P R O D U C T S
ABB Semi C3
Bicron 11
CT Concept Technologie 7
CUI 23
Darnell 48+49
Danfoss Silicon Power 37
ecar 43
EPE 27
Fairchild 3
Fuji 17
Indium 25
Infineon 15
International Rectifier C4
Intersil 13
ITPR 55
LED 33
Lem 5
LS 1
Magma-Power 47
PEMD 50
Photovoltaic Conf. 39
Powerex 31
Power Electronics 19
Premo 35
Productronica 29
Proton 51
Semicon Europa 21
Semikron C2
SPS 53
Syfer 51
VMI 45
ADVERTISING INDEX
Recom announces the release of the new
R0.25S series in open frame SMD design
with improved efficiency and extended ambi-
ent temperature. The compact 0.25W single
output converters can be used in many
industrial low power applications and are
also approved for medical applications.
The R0.25S converters offer quarter watt
output power from input voltages of 3.3, 5,
12, 15 or 24VDC. The standard output volt-
age options are 3.3, 5, 9, 12, 15 or 24VDC.
The conversion efficiency is up to 70%,
which enables Recom to guarantee an
extended ambient temperature range of -
40°C to +100°C without derating.
This series offer 1kVDC or 3kVDC isolation
and optional continuous short circuit protec- tion. They are UL60950-1, EN60950-1 and
EN60601-1 certified; RoHS 6/6 conform and
come with Recom’s standard 3 year warran-
ty. The converters are designed for a long,
trouble-free working life with an MTBF of
>1.3 million hours.
The R0.25S DC/DC-converters have a very
compact low profile case with dimensions of
only 12.75x10.7x6.7mm. The converters are
available pre-packed as “tape and reel” for
use with automatic insertion machines and
the enclosed open frame design means that
they are suitable for vapour phase soldering
in addition to standard reflow ovens.
www.recom-electronic.com
Micro-Size DC/DC-Converters with High Efficiency, Even with Low Loads
International Rectifier has introduced the GH Series of radiation hard-
ened (RAD-Hard™) DC-DC converters. The new 50 W devices are
designed to maximize efficiency for onboard spacecraft applications
requiring long mission life up to 15 years.
The GH Series of devices is suitable for designs using new digital
signal processors and FPGA technologies that require a supply volt-
age as low as 1.0 V. Key features include 18 V to 40 V input range,
total ionization dose (TID) of over 100 krad (Si), single event effect
(SEE) (Heavy Ions) with rated LET greater than 82 MeV.cm2/mg,
internal EMI filter complying with most major satellite power buses,
and a weight of less than 110 g.
As a low output voltage, highly efficient solution, the GH Series
addresses the ongoing need to reduce the overall size and weight of
the system together with the increasing requirements of FPGA and
other digital circuitries for increased bandwidth and data processing
speed of spacecraft electronics.
The GH Series was developed using a proven space-level design
methodology that includes selection of established reliable compo-
nents and fully de-rated to the requirements of MIL-STD-1547. The
devices feature magnetically coupled feedback to ensure robust
operation under the intended radiation environments.
The output models range from 1.0 V to 5.0 V with current rating of up
to 20 A and high efficiency up to 87 percent. Output is adjustable with
an external resistor for a precise output voltage setting with the
adjustment range of ±10% of the rated output voltage. Other key fea-
tures include remote sense compensation, remote output on/off con-
trol via Inhibit pin, input under-voltage protection with under-voltage
lockout (UVLO), and synchronization for applications with multiple
converters.
www.irf.com
High Efficiency, Low Voltage Output DC-DC ConverterSolutions for High Reliability Spacecraft ApplicationsUsing Digital Technologies
Power and productivityfor a better world™
High Power IGCTs. Wherever high performance
is needed.
ABB Switzerland LtdABB s.r.o.www.abb.com/semiconductors
IGCTs manufactured by ABB Semiconductors are thoroughly tested for their static
and dynamic performance. Certain devices switch up to 20MW of power during
testing. This ensures reliable operation in high power applications such as medium
voltage drives and trackside power supply. For more information please visit our
webpage: www.abb.com/semiconductors
Part Number Description OutputCurrent
VCC UVLO Package
AUIRS2191S High Speed High and Low Side +3.5 / -3.5 A 8.2 V SOIC16N
AUIRS21811S High Speed High and Low Side +1.9 / -2.3 A 8.2 V SOIC8
Part Number VDS
RDS(on) Max@10VGS
ID max.@TC = 25°C
Qg typ.@10VGS
Package
AUIRF7669L2 100 V 4.4 m� 114 A 81 nC DirectFET L
AUIRF7759L2 75 V 2.3 m� 160 A 200 nC DirectFET L
AUIRF7739L2 40 V 1 m� 270 A 220 nC DirectFET L
AUIRF7736M2 40 V 3.1 m� 141 A 83 nC DirectFET M
Part Number IC @TC=100°C VCE(on) typ. Package
AUIRGP35B60PD 34 A 1.85 V TO-247
AUIRGP50B60PD1 45 A 2.00 V TO-247
Part Number DescriptionOutputCurrent
Package
AUIRS4426S Dual Channel Low Side +2.3 / -3.3A SOIC8
AUIRS4427S Dual Channel Low Side +2.3 / -3.3A SOIC8
AUIRS4428S Dual Channel Low Side +2.3 / -3.3A SOIC8
Features
Automotive DirectFET®2 Power MOSFETs
600V High Voltage IC for Switching Stage Drivers
600V Automotive IGBTs for Switching Stage
25V Low Voltage IC for Switching Stage Drivers
IR’s Solution for Energy Saving Drive
For more information call +49 (0) 6102 884 311or visit us at www.irf.com THE POWER MANAGEMENT LEADER