New Arrays of Power Transistors Are First in Industry to Provide 4,000-Volt Electrostatic Protection

DALLAS, TEXAS (January 31, 1995) - The next generation of Power+ Arrays™ from Texas Instruments is the industry's first family of gate-protected motor drivers to provide protection from electrostatic discharge (ESD) up to 4,000 volts -- 40 times more than comparable discrete power transistors and hybrid devices currently available.

This new family of gate-protected Power+ Arrays is well-suited for ESD-sensitive and noise-intensive applications, including fractional horsepower motors in office machines, such as hard disk drives, printers, plotters, copiers and faxes. Industrial applications that benefit from this level of ESD protection include automated test equipment, process control systems, programmable machine tools and robotic systems. Characterized for operation over an extended temperature range of -40 to 125 degrees C, these Power+ Arrays were designed to perform effectively in rugged environments.

The gate-protected Power+ Arrays, which include the TPIC5203, TPIC5303, TPIC5401, TPIC5403 and TOIC1301 feature integrated high-current 18-volt zener diodes to help prevent gate damage from voltage transients. The devices are monolithic gate-protected power DMOS transistor arrays that integrate as many as six electrically isolated or configured N-channel enhancement-mode DMOS power transistors. The combination of integrated gate-source zener diodes and energy-rated drain-source zener diodes provides system designers protection against operating and static-induced voltage spikes.

"Gate-protected MOSFETs simplify design and handling procedures, enabling designers to reduce costs and bring products to market quicker," said Julie Holland, TI's Power ICs marketing manager. "And, the fast commutation speeds of these devices improves reverse recovery time for lower power dissipation."

Additionally, the devices' surface mount packaging saves board space, resolves height requirements, and is compatible with automatic insertion machines.

Logic-level Capability

This new family of gate-protected Power+ Arrays, which includes the TPIC5223L, TPIC5323L, TPIC5421L, TPIC5423L, and TPIC1321L, is also available in a logic-level version. Most power MOSFETs, which are controlled by a form of logic, require an input voltage in the 10-15 volt range. Because logic components are typically five-volt devices, voltage-level shifting circuitry is needed between logic and power MOSFETs. The logic-level interface on TI's gate-protected Power+ Arrays reduces the need for voltage-shifting circuitry to further simplify design.

Key Features/Benefits

• Highly integrated: -- 2, 3, 4 or 6 power transistors in a monolithic device to reduce component count and board space
• Gate-protected devices: -- Protects transistors from electrostatic discharge and voltage transients up to 4,000 volts for increased reliability
• Low gate capacitance: -- Fast switching speeds for higher frequency applications and low power consumption for enhanced system performance
• Configured for motor drive: -- Inherently well-matched transistors suited to drive wide range of fractional horsepower motors, such as three-phase DC brushless, DC brush, stepper and unipolar
• 11.25-amp peak current per channel : --Current level meets needs of many applications
• 60-volt output per channel: -- Capable of switching high-power loads
• Low on-state resistance: -- Low power dissipation of .23 ohms
• *Logic-level capability: -- Interfaces directly to standard five-volt logic levels to reduce level-shifting circuitry and simplify pre-drive requirements for significant system cost savings

Pricing and Availability

Gate-protected Power+ Arrays and the logic-level version are available now from Texas Instruments and its authorized distributors at a suggested resale unit price in quantities of 1,000 starting at $.76.

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Trademarks:

Power+ Array is a trademark of Texas Instruments Incorporated

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