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TDK, Tyco, & On Semi Unveil New Devices At APEC 2009

February 16, 2009 by Jeff Shepard

The nation’s capitol hosted the Applied Power Electronics Conference for 2009, with several companies unveiling new product and technologies. Among the more interesting were the new devices being demonstrated by TDK Corp., Tyco Electronics, and ON Semiconductor.

TDK Corp. announced the development of an Electric Double Layer Capacitor (EDLC), which the company claims has the lowest ESR in the industry for its size. The new capacitor will be available in a 20 x 20 mm size.

The EDLC employs a double layer of charged particles formed on activated carbon coated electrodes in an electrolyte. As a result, high capacitance is achieved due to the large electrode surface area and thin charge-bearing layer.

TDK’s new EDLC Supercapacitor is targeted at portable device applications such as High Power LED Flash. In this application, the characteristics of the Supercapacitor enable the use of the latest high current LEDs to produce camera flash illumination of similar performance to existing Xenon flash solutions, but without the need for high voltage components and complex charging circuits. Other applications include Pulsed Energy Storage, Power Loss Assist and Battery Assist.

Tyco Electronics introduced a new line of fast-acting, high-current chip fuses. Helping provide overcurrent protection on power supplies, servers, communications equipment, voltage regulator modules, and other space-constrained applications, the surface mount chip fuse offers strong arc suppression characteristics and what is described as some of the highest current ratings available in the industry-standard 1206 form factor.

Key device parameters for the high-current fuse include: rated current values up to 20A with voltage ratings up to 24Vdc; operating temperature range of -55 to +125°C; 100A interrupt rating at rated voltage; and what is said to be some of the highest I²t values available in the 1206 form factor.

The fuse’s monolithic, multilayer design enhances high temperature performance and contributes to the high inrush current withstanding capability.

ON Semiconductor introduced the NCP1901, an integrated circuit that combines both a power factor correction (PFC) controller and a resonant half-bridge controller in a single package. The high level of integration of the NCP1901 permits off-line adapters to be designed with minimal form factor while meeting worldwide efficiency standards, such as ENERGY STAR® v2.0 for external power supplies, California Energy Commission (CEC), European Code of Conduct and China Standard Certification Center (CSC).

The advantage of the NCP1901 is the unique combination of a PFC controller operating in a critical conduction mode (CRM) and a resonant half-bridge controller. Overall voltage regulation is maintained by adjusting the PFC output voltage. This allows a fixed frequency resonant controller to be utilized, reducing the transformer size and maximizing efficiency.

The NCP1901 is said to reduce the number of external discrete components, minimizing board footprint. The resonant controller has an integrated half-bridge driver rated at 600V, eliminating the need for an external driver or gate drive transformer. A 600V startup circuit allows direct connection to the bulk capacitor, improving efficiency at light loads through the omission of startup resistors.