Vishay Launches New Phototriacs

Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. has added to its phototriac portfolio with 12 new devices offering a static dV/dt of 5 kV/µs, a five-fold improvement over the next best devices from other suppliers. These new phototriacs give customers a selection of 58 base phototriac part numbers (excluding electrical and lead form options) that meets a wide variety of application requirements.

The new phototriacs will be used to isolate low-voltage logic from high-voltage power mains in industrial systems running off 120V, 240V and 380V ac lines. Typical applications include control of resistive, inductive, and capacitive loads, including ac motor drives, TRIAC drives, switching power supplies, programmable controllers, high-current thyristors, relays, temperature controls, and solenoid/valve controls.

The devices released include zero-crossing (ZC) and non-zero-crossing (NZC) phototriacs, all with an isolation test voltage of 5,300 VRMS and on-state current of 300mA. Specific device options allow designers to choose from industry-low trigger currents of 1.6mA, 2mA or 3mA, simplifying the interface to standard logic circuits, as well as blocking voltages of 400V or 600V. A proprietary dV/dt clamp results in a static dV/dt of greater than 5 kV/µs.

The new ZC VO4154 and VO4156 series phototriacs consist of a GaAs infrared LED that is optically coupled to a photosensitive ZC TRIAC detector chip. This design type helps to reduce EMI noise harmonics while featuring lower peak operating currents, making it well suited for noise-sensitive circuits. Devices in the VO4254 and VO4256 series of NZC phototriacs, on the other hand, have the advantage of being able to trigger any time during the ac phase cycle and turn off at the next zero crossing. This makes the NZC devices suited for many phase modulation applications.

Encased in the 6-pin DIP, samples of the new VO4154/6 and VO4254/6 phototriacs are available now. Production quantities have a lead-time of six to eight weeks. Pricing for U.S. delivery in 10,000-piece quantities starts at $1.50 each depending on the blocking voltage and input trigger current values.