electronica 2024: Linear FET enables safe hot-swap

Infineon Technologies is addressing this challenge with the new OptiMOS 5 Linear FET 2, a MOSFET designed to provide the ideal trade-off between the R _DS(on) of a trench MOSFET and the wide safe operating area (SOA) of a classic planar MOSFET.

The device prevents damage to the load by limiting the high inrush current and ensures minimal losses during operation due to its low R _DS(on).

Compared to the previous generation (the OptiMOS Linear FET), the OptiMOS Linear FET 2 offers improved SOA at elevated temperatures and reduced gate leakage current, as well as a wider range of packages.

This allows for more MOSFETs to be connected in parallel per controller, reducing bill-of-material (BOM) costs and offering more design flexibility due to the extended product portfolio.

The 100 V OptiMOS 5 Linear FET 2 is available in a TO-leadless package (TOLL) and offers a 12 times higher SOA at 54 V at 10 ms and 3.5 times higher SOA at 100 µs compared to a standard OptiMOS 5 with similar R _DS(on).

The latter improvement is particularly important for the battery protection performed inside the battery management system (BMS) in case of a short circuit event.

During such events the current distribution between parallel MOSFETs is critical for the system design and reliability. The OptiMOS 5 Linear FET 2 features an optimized transfer characteristic that allows for improved current sharing.

Taking into account the wide SOA and improved current sharing, the number of components can be reduced by up to 60 percent in designs where the number of components is determined by the short-circuit current requirement.

This enables high power density, efficiency, and reliability for battery protection which are used in a wide range of applications including power tools, e-bikes, e-scooters, forklifts, battery back-up units and battery-powered vehicles.

The new OptiMOS 5 Linear FET 2 MOSFET is now available.