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Back to the Future – The Time Machine Becomes an E-car

back to the future

Almost everybody knows the movie „Back to the Future“, one of the greatest films of the 1980s. Marty McFly and his eccentric scientist friend Emmett "Doc" Brown are unforgettable. You might remember the fancy car with its astonishing wing doors. This car returns now back (from future?) with an e-motor, battery and on-board charger.

Needless to say that such car (but also others) require components that are protected against excessive voltage strikes. Soon available will be our S5Y-AQ, a 5 A, 2000 V rectifier in SMC package with AEC-Q101 qualification. Robust enough for any kind of auxiliary circuits in the battery management and charging system. A dedicated bootstrap and snubber diode is the avalanche rated BYG20J, with 1.5 A, 600 V and 75 ns in SMA. Planned in the very near future with AEC-Q101 qualification.

Back to the future. And per simple upgrade return to the here and now. It's a breeze!

Cordless Hedge Trimmer - Forget about Cables

cordless hedge trimmer

Various factors come into play when trimming hedges, from the type of hedge you are working on, the tools you decide to use and the finish that you want to achieve. One thing is obvious: Hedge trimming is tiring, and no one wants to pull additionally cables around.

Now, cordless types are very popular and garden lovers benefit from a higher flexibility and less effort when trimming. State-of-the-art models use 18 V or even 36 V batteries, as well as microcontroller based charging and drive electronics. The supply for the microcontroller can be done via our Positive Fixed Voltage Regulator LDI8233-3.3EN, offering up to 40 V of input voltage, 100 mA output current and thermal overload protection. The enable function allows switching off the entire control circuit in case of non-use and helps to enlarge battery stand-by time.
Hence, they are ideally suited for any battery powered garden device.

Long-lasting Fun with Battery Powered Toys

cordless hedge trimmer

Do you remember the commercial where several pink bunnies had to compete in a battery challenge? Besides a good battery, such toys need also good components with especially no toxic substances.

Parts in glass packages like SOD-80C contained up to now lead (Pb) as an element in the glass matrix, making it not recommended for toys. Within this year, we will move these parts towards totally lead-free versions. A plus for safety, but also the environment!
The planar SMD Zener diode ZMM3.3 having 3.3 V offers a low reverse leakage of 2 μA at 1 V and a quite sharp Zener breakdown for such low voltage. This helps to run the toy even longer.
And what’s more important: Children can enjoy many hours of fun – which makes also parents happy 😀

Reduce Device Count with 4000 V Rectifier Diodes in SMD

smart meters

The SM4000 is a 4000V/1A rectifier diode in DO-213AB Melf package. It is ideally suited for input rectification of devices connected directly to the public mains, e. g. Smart Electricity Meter, LED Street Lamps and 4G/5G Base Stations. All these devices are rated for a surge voltage of 6 kV. The usually inserted mains filter reduces this value to about 2 kV; actually available 2000 V rectifiers are "at the edge" under this load. As a consequence, two of such diodes are placed in series to increase safety margin.

The SM4000 offers in a single package a V_RRM of 4000 V and thus a comfortable "built in" safety margin. Instead of using 16 diodes in a typical Smart Meter input stage, the amount of components can be reduced to eight. And all with no compromise in safety margin.



Space Saving Snubber Solution for Auxiliary Supplies in White Goods: US1J + P6SMA240A

white goods

Flyback converters are state of the art when it comes to low power auxiliary supplies in white goods. An important part of that converter is the so called snubber or clamping circuit, built from a Fast or Ultrafast Recovery Rectifier in series to a Transient Voltage Suppressor (TVS) Diode. Typically used is the US1J, a 1 A / 600 V / 75 ns rectifier in DO-214AC/SMA along with the P6SMBJ170A, a 600 W Suppressor with 170 V of working and 275 V of clamping voltage in DO-214AA/SMB. 

When space is restricted - which is often the case at white goods - it would be desirable to get also the TVS in an SMA package. But the P4SMA(J) family offers only 400 W of peak pulse power, which in many cases might be too low. The new P6SMA(J) family by Diotec closes this gap by offering 500 W for the lower working voltage range up to 204 V, and even 600 W for higher voltages. The US1J is available in volumes from stock. The P6SMA240A and P6SMA480A are available in sample quantities, while the P6SMAJ170A and P6SMA440A will follow in a short time.

Features:

- High Voltage Rectifier
- V_RRM = 4000 V
- I_RAV = 1 A
- DO-213AB Melf outline
- I_FSM = 25 A (10 ms/50 Hz)

Applications:

- Smart Meter
- LED Street Lamps
- 5G Base Stations

 



Energy-efficient products according to European Union's Ecodesign Directive 2009/125/EC

energy-efficient microwave

The European Union's Ecodesign Directive 2009/125/EC sets mandatory ecological requirements for products running most of their usage time in stand-by mode. Examples are boilers, TVs, fridges, stoves, microwave ovens and computers. Devices being in stand-by mode are allowed to consume only 0.5 W of power, in case of on-state power less than 50 W even only 0.3 W. Only if additional functions like time or temperature are displayed, stand-by power might be up to 1 W.

Designing and offering energy saving components is one of Diotec's major targets. Examples are the LDO LDI8119EN with enable ("switch off") pin, the MM1Z4711, a Zener diode with test current of only 50 µA, the SK34SMA L217 15MQ040N, a Schottky diode offering both low reverse leakage and low forward voltage, or the Superfast Efficient Rectifier ES1G - speaking for itself.

 



Model Railways Performing Almost Close to Reality

model railways

In 1862, the British company Myers offered steam locomotive models in its catalogue for the first time. Later on, electrically driven types entered children bedrooms, starting and stopping in a quite rough, "unnatural" way. Nowadays, even whole families spend afternoons with the small, detailed coloured model railways, which are fully digital controlled. This allows behaviours extremely close to reality, in terms of realistic, "slow" acceleration and deceleration.

Thanks to miniaturized SMD components like Diotec's bridge rectifier MYS80, the superfast diode EGL1D and dual MOSFET MMBT7002DW, such digital drives can be built even on the smallest scale. The MYS80 measures just 3 mm x 3 mm and offers anyway an output current of up to 500 mA at maximum 80 Vrms input voltage. An ideal free-wheeling diode for the PWM controlled DC drive is the EGL1D with 1 A, 200 V and t_rr < 50 ns. Two MOSFETs in a single SOT-363 package allow to build a halfbridge at smallest board space requirement. The MMBT7002DW offers 60 V of Drain to Source voltage, a peak drain current of 800 mA, maximum R_DSon of 7.5 Ohm and allow for control by digital/logic level drivers.

Reverse Polarity Protection for Railway On-Board Supplies

railway coaches

Railway coaches are equipped with battery systems buffering the quite unstable power supply system, fed from the overhead contact line or from the diesel rail car. In case of a blackout, they keep supplying the lighting, air condition but also safety systems like door openers or similar. Like in automotive circuits, the electronic loads connected to such on-board supplies must be protected against accidentally happening reverse polarity, e. g. during maintenance or exchange of the battery.

Axial lead devices like the 10A/1000V diode P1000M are often the first choice since they can be welded or crimped directly into a cable connection. Higher power ratings are allowed by the 20A/1000V device P2000MTL or even by the 25A/1300…2000V type P2500Y.

NEW Application Note: How to Prolong Battery Lifetime

app note about LDO with enable function

One way to make the battery system efficient is minimizing the energy usage while the system is runing or is in standby-mode. This can be realized by limiting the current drawn by the system from the battery. Thanks to Diotec's new LDO Voltage regulators LDI8119EN and LDI8233EN with Enable-function it is possible to switch-off the system, thus the input current will be limited usually up to 1.0 µA.

This simple solution will boost the efficiency of the battery system and prolong battery life. Due to the shutdown current of 0.4 µA - 1.0 µA the LDI8119EN and LDI8233EN are suitable in all battery management applications. Please refer to our Application Note for more detailed information.

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