Fairchild Releases IntelliMAX™ Slew-Rate Controlled Load Switches For Portable Electronics

Fairchild Semiconductor announced a series of advanced load switches with multiple slew-rate options that protect circuits from undesirable voltage and current transients. The FPF1007-9 series has been specifically designed to protect applications with capacitive loads.

During turn-on, these loads typically cause transient current spikes and voltage sags – which may cause issues in the end application. The FPF1007-9 family features slew-rate times of 10µs, 80µs and 1µs, providing the designer flexibility in choosing the slew rate that best fits their application. Longer slew rates ensure a slower turn-on time, which results in limiting the in-rush current into the applications’ capacitive circuit elements.

As with all of Fairchild’s IntelliMAX switches, these slew-rate controlled load switches provide a protection interface between the application circuitry, battery and other accessories, and with their high level of integration they simplify designs, reduce component count and minimize board space – attributes that are said to be critical to mobile and consumer applications.

The FPF1007-1009 series of slew-rate controlled load switches provide designers with system stability over the entire operating range and robust protection from voltage sags and current spikes. This is especially important in handsets and other portable devices where suppressing transients with a slower turn-on time or slew rate is essential. Industry trends are driving lower operating voltages while adding more functionality, and application processors in portable applications can be particularly sensitive to voltage transients. If the processor supply voltage drops below the minimum threshold, it may find itself in an ill-defined operating state, likely resulting in a reset condition. Similarly, repeated current spikes may cause undue strain on the circuit components, causing long-term degradation or component failure, which could seriously compromise overall system performance.

The FPF1007, FPF1008 and FPF1009 utilize lead-free (Pb-free) terminals and have been characterized for moisture sensitivity in accordance with the Pb-free reflow requirements of the joint IPC/JEDEC standard J-STD-020. All of Fairchild’s products are designed to meet the requirements of the European Union’s Directive on the restriction of the use of certain substances (RoHS).

They are priced (each, 1000 pcs.) at US $0.57, with a delivery time of 14 weeks ARO.