Taiyo Yuden Power Inductor For LED Flash DC-DC Converters Claims DC Bias Rating At 40% Less Chip Surface Area
Taiyo Yuden (U.S.A.) Inc. announced the compact, high-performance NRV3012, a new 3 x 3 x 1.2mm height (max) wire-wound power inductor for LED flash dc-dc converter applications in camera-equipped cell phones and other portable electronic devices. The company claims that the NRV3012 has the industry’s best dc bias characteristics of any power inductor in its size class.
The device’s 1.8 A rated current (based on dc saturation) represents a 60% improvement over the company’s previous 1.1 A maximum rated current. Moreover, the NRV3012 reduces device surface area by 40% compared to previous 4-mm-square wire-wound power inductors with equivalent dc bias performance.
According to the company, in addition to the latest camera-equipped cell phones with built-in LED flash units for low-light-level photography, LED flash technology is gaining use in mobile music players with built-in cameras, digital still cameras and other devices. LED flash voltage conversion circuits typically require a dc-dc converter, the physical dimensions of which continue to shrink as a result of market miniaturization demands. The design challenge is to make the power inductor – the key component in the conversion circuit – smaller and thinner without compromising the dc bias characteristics needed to prevent inductance loss, even with large dc currents.
Taiyo Yuden states that it has solved this requirement by redesigning the round drum/sleeve core used by conventional inductors into a unique sleeveless, square-core winding that eliminates all wasted space and thickens the lead wire inside the inductor to achieve the lowest possible dc resistance.
Another core-related design improvement favorably impacts manufacturability and unit cost without harming performance. Most conventional LED flash dc-dc converters use inductors with cores made of relatively expensive metallic materials. By contrast, the NRV3012’s less costly ferrite construction matches the dc bias and other performance characteristics of equivalent-size inductors made with more expensive materials.
By virtue of its high performance and smaller size, the NRV3012 offers customers greater design flexibility by allowing 4 x 4mm or larger power inductors to be replaced by significantly smaller components.
The units are sample priced at $0.20 each with a delivery of 2 weeks ARO.
