New Industry Products

Clare Releases First Device in New Family of Optically Isolated, Self-Biased Gate Drivers

July 25, 2007 by Jeff Shepard

Clare, Inc., an IXYS company, announced the immediate production release of the CPC1580, an optically isolated MOSFET gate driver integrated circuit that provides 3750Vrms of input-to-output isolation and requires no external power supply. An external power MOSFET is controlled by the application of sufficient input LED current (2.5 to 10mA) to the CPC1580 to activate the internal load-side driver circuit.

The CPC1580 IC is connected to the load, together with an external storage capacitor, which provides sufficient bias to the internal driver circuit and eliminates a costly supply. The device is specifically designed for low duty cycle switching frequencies and offers isolated solid state control to replace large modules and multi-component discrete solutions.

The CPC1580 MOSFET driver couples infrared light emitting diodes (LEDs) with proprietary photovoltaic integrated circuits. The die is fabricated with Clare’s high voltage, dielectrically isolated BCDMOS technology using Clare’s Silicon-on-Insulater process and is assembled in a small 8-pin package. The CPC1580 has a blocking voltage rating of 65V, which is paired with a corresponding external MOSFET for a variety of power switching applications. The IC features a typical turn-on time of 150µs (Ton=150µs) and a typical turn-off time of 240µs (Toff=240µs) with a 2.5mA LED current.

The CPC1580 is an excellent choice for remote switching of dc and low frequency loads where isolated power is unavailable. The device is flexible and allows the user to select a specific MOSFET and external components to satisfy design switching requirements. Used in conjunction with discrete MOSFETs, the CPC1580 is suitable for programmable control, process control, instrumentation, and power distribution applications, and reduces BOM count, board space, and overall design complexity. Additional parts in this new family of optically isolated gate drivers are scheduled for release this year featuring higher load voltages and faster switch speed ratings.

The CPC1580 optical gate driver is in full production with a leadtime of 4 weeks. For OEM quantities of 25KU, the CPC1580 is priced at $0.55.