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International Rectifier Unveils Hyperfast- and Very
Soft-Recovery Diodes that Maximize Power Factor Correction Circuit Performance
EL SEGUNDO, CA. October 2000 - International Rectifier (NYSE: IRF) has introduced a new series of hyperfast-recovery diodes with soft-recovery waveshape. The new diodes have been designed specifically to increase performance and power density in power factor correction (PFC) boost circuits for offline switch mode power supplies. The devices are rated at 8, 15 and 30A and are suitable for power output levels to 1.5kW.
The new PFC diodes are especially well matched with IR's advanced planar HEXFET® power MOSFETs for hard-switched converters and PFC boost circuit applications. The new PFC diode and MOSFET combinations show up to a 32% lower power loss when compared with previous IR devices. Refer to Table 1and Figure 1.
The 8ETH06, 15ETH06, 30ETH06 and 30EPH06 are 600 volt, hyperfast-, very soft-recovery rectifiers and have low forward voltage drop and reverse leakage, critical parameters which reduce conduction and switching losses. The optimized platinum diffusion manufacturing process ensures a gentle and spike-free reverse recovery waveshape over a wide temperature range, thus reducing radiated electrical noise. See Figure 1. Additionally, the devices have a maximum junction temperature of 175°C, providing a large safe operating area.
Figure 1. The new PFC diodes and matching MOSFETs deliver 32% lower power losses in power factor correction circuits.
According to Derek Brown, Director of Technical Marketing at IR, "PFC diodes must have a soft-recovery waveform to minimize radiated electrical noise. A 'noisy' waveform is more likely to produce un-wanted over-voltages while switching, which can damage the diode or other switching components in the PFC circuit. The hyperfast switching speed enables higher operating frequencies necessary to increase power density. IR's new PFC-diodes have reverse recovery times as low as 30ns. Matching the new diode with a HEXFET power MOSFET greatly improves PFC efficiency."
International Rectifier offers various combinations of PFC-specific diodes and MOSFETs to accommodate many power levels. The PFC diodes come in TO-220, TO-262, TO-263 and TO-247 packages for easy design-in.
Table 1. New application-specific diodes and matching HEXFET® power MOSFETs greatly improve PFC circuit performance.
Pricing and Availability
Samples for the new PFC-specific diodes will be available beginning October 2000 with production quantities to follow in December 2000. Pricing for IR's new PFC-optimized rectifiers begins at US $0.55 each in 100,000-unit quantities.
For more information:
Contact the Technical Assistance Center or
your local Sales Rep.
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