VDC components added to dual-function automotive series varistors

TransFeed and Transfeed Automotive Series Multilayer Varistors (MLVs) are Transient Voltage Suppression (TVS) devices that combine the electrical characteristics of AVX’s robust TransGuardTVS devices with those of its proven feedthru capacitors in a unique 0805 single-chip solution that responds to transient events faster than any other TVS device available on today’s market (<0.2ns), provides state-of-the-art overvoltage circuit protection and EMI attenuation over a much broader range of frequencies than comparable devices, and delivers significant EMI attenuation when in the off-state.

Product Manager at AVX, Jiri Machanice said: “General purpose TransFeed and TransFeed Automotive Series varistors both provide outstanding bi-directional ESD protection coupled with low parallel inductance, excellent decoupling capabilities for high DI/DT environments, and significant noise reduction in digital circuits, which makes them an ideal choice for systems designers with transient voltage and broadband EMI/RFI concerns.”

Machanicek continued: “Both series prove especially useful in fingerprint ID and magnetic field circuits, microcontroller and interface I/O lines, and power regulation and line conditioning applications, and the automotive series is also well-suited for use in drive-by-wire applications, dimming mirror circuits, and LCD dashboard drivers.”

TransFeed and TransFeed Automotive Series MLVs utilize a ZnO varistor material coupled with the electrode pattern of a feedthru capacitor to maximize the package advantage of the feedthru and the material advantages of the ZnO dielectric.

This combination results in several electrical and physical advantages over standard ZnO MLVs, including: reduced parallel inductance, increased series inductance, faster turn-on time (<250ps), broadband EMI attenuation, multiple strike capabilities, and small size (relative to discrete MLV and EMI filter schemes). Measured response times for the two series range from 200–250pSec, which is less than half that of the fastest bipolar TVS solutions currently available, and both also exhibit excellent attenuation at high self-resonant frequency with a much flatter roll-off characteristic than comparable devices, resulting in EMI filtering over a much broader frequency spectrum. 

Rated for use in operating temperatures spanning -55 to 125ºC, TransFeed and TransFeed Automotive Series varistors are currently rated for 5.6-26VDC working voltage, 18-60V clamping voltage, 0.05-0.3J energy, 20-120A current, 500mA to 1A feedthru current, and 0.15-0.25Ω DC resistance.

Both series are available in 0805 cases with Ni Barrier/100% Sn terminations, exhibit excellent solderability, and are shipped on tape and reel in quantities spanning 1,000 to 10,000. The TransFeed Automotive Series is qualified to AEC-Q200, and both the general purpose and automotive series MLVs are RoHS compliant.