Ensure Safe System Operation With Certified Isolator Devices White Paper

To provide designer confidence, isolator products must be certified to ensure that they meet the required insulation levels for the desired safety ratings. Equipment manufacturers, to meet the system safety ratings will often use isolators that are certified to meet recognized standards in order to ensure safety and compliance to regulations. These isolation requirements are met through mechanicalconstructional guidelines and component safety standards. Optocouplers are a prime example of components that are currently regulated by component level safety standards.

An example of an optocoupler standard is VDE0884 which was subsequently replaced by DIN/EN 60747-5-2/ DIN/EN 60747-5-5. This standard was developed to address all of the specifi c safety aspects of optocoupler technology. One of the key achievements of this standard is the implementation of 100% manufacturing test methodology. This methodology is able to reliably prove the long-term high-voltage endurance of every manufactured optocoupler.

In recent years, alternative isolators using diff erent coupling technologies, e.g. magnetic and capacitive isolators, have been introduced to the market. These alternative isolators are typically built using ultra thin (10 micrometres – 20 micrometres) insulation layers, while optocouplers have insulation thicknesses of 80 micrometres to 1000 micrometres. The thinner insulation barrier in the alternative isolators experiences higher electric-field stress for the same working voltage, and thus may be more prone to failure than the optocouplers.

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