ESD protection diodes safeguard NFC antennas

7th January 2014

Nat Bowers

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Datasheet

NXP Semiconductors has introduced the PESD18VF1BL and PESD24VF1BL ESD protection devices which are specifically designed to protect NFC antennas from transient voltages in mobile devices. 18 and 24V (respectively) bi-directional diodes, the devices feature very low capacitance down to 0.35pF in order to allow easy design of the antenna matching circuit.

In order to avoid intermodulation distortion, the PESD18VF1BL and PESD24VF1BL feature a very small voltage dependency of the diode capacitance. The diodes also feature ESD robustness of up to 10 kV according to IEC61000-4-2 and are suitable for applications including compact and slim smartphones.

Often integrated into the battery cover or the battery itself, the NFC antenna is connected to the NFC IC via small contacts on the phone. An entry point for ESD strikes, these contacts protect the NFC controller ICs from potentially hazardous strikes according to the IEC61000-4-2 industry standard. With very small variation of diode capacitance versus bias voltage, the NFC ICs are designed to maintain strong signal integrity of the antenna circuit. This ensures the best possible protection of the NFC system.

Supplied in a 1.0x0.6x0.48mm leadless DFN1006-2 package, the PESD18VF1BL is available now for $0.05 (USD) per piece in 10,000 unit quantities. The PESD24VF1BL will be available in high-volume production in Q1 2014, while two further 18 and 24V protection diodes in the 0.6x0.3x0.3mm DSN0603 package will be released in Q2 2014.