Thin film resistors offer robust ESD performance

They are the resistor of choice for many instrumentation, automotive, audio and industrial applications.

However, one weakness with thin film resistor technology is its vulnerability to ESD pulses which can cause the resistor to fail or go out of its specified tolerance, to negate this issue designers must add additional components in the form of ESD protection devices such as varistors in the circuit.

This adds further cost and complexity to the design and creates more potential failure points due to additional components.

One option for designers is to use thick film resistors which are much less vulnerable to ESD pulses, however these have traditionally not been able to offer tolerances below 0.25% or temperature coefficients (T.C.R) below 50ppm which are often required in precision designs.

To overcome this issue and offer designers a real alternative to thin film precision resistors, KOA have developed the RS73 series of precision resistors which are based on the more robust thick film resistor technology.

Featuring a T.C.R. down to ±25ppm and a tolerance as low as ±0.1%, these resistors are ideal for precision designs such as high-accuracy sensing or voltage detection circuits in automotive, industrial and measuring applications, where ESD sensitivity is an issue.

Where the RS73 series really excels is in ESD performance and rated power for the same case size which can be twice that of thin film resistors allowing designers to potentially reduce the size of the components used saving valuable PCB space.

The resistors also feature an excellent long-term stability of ±0.2% and is available in four industry standard sizes, 0402, 0603, 0805 and 1206.

While thin film still offers better performance in several areas, precision thick film is now a viable choice for designs which require robust ESD performance in suitable applications, and the thick film RS73 series can reduce overall component count by negating the need for additional protection components.

These thick film precision resistors from KOA are ideal for a wide range of applications in consumer, automotive, industrial and precision instrumentation equipment.

Anglia are offering customers free samples of the RS73 series of ESD tolerant thick film precision resistors from KOA.