EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — International Rectifier, IR® (NYSE: IRF), a world leader in power management technology, today introduced the IRS2168D fully-integrated and protected high-voltage integrated circuit (HVIC) for advanced electronic linear fluorescent lamp ballasts which incorporate active power factor correction (PFC).

The new IC integrates PFC, ballast control and 600V half-bridge driver in a compact 16-lead SO package and features a wide range input voltage PFC to simplify complex multi-lamp circuits offering a fault counter on the current-sense pin for multi-lamp ballasts and cycle-by-cycle protection on the PFC side for high reliability.

“In addition to integrating many features for maximum programmability and protection, the IRS2168D provides a wide range input to address the challenge of designing complex multi-lamp electronic ballast circuits, rounding out our portfolio of non-dimmable fluorescent ICs,” said Stephane Ernoux, IR product manager.

The IRS2168D’s PFC circuitry provides a high power factor (PF) of 0.995, low total harmonic distortion (THD) of less than 10% and DC bus regulation within a tolerance of +/- 2.5%. The IC has many programmable features including those for pre-heat time, pre-heat frequency, run frequency, and ignition ramp. Protection features are provided for half-bridge over-current, PFC over-current, lamp failure-to strike, and filament failures in addition to other protection features such as closed-loop ignition current regulation, DC bus under-voltage reset and an automatic restart function. The IC also features an integrated bootstrap diode, fixed internal 1.6-microsecond half-bridge deadtime, voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), end-of-life window comparator pin, lamp removal/auto-restart shutdown pin and an internal 15.6V Zener diode clamp on Vcc.

IR’s new ballast control IC utilizes IR’s advanced high-voltage IC process which incorporates next-generation high-voltage level-shifting and termination technology to deliver superior electrical over-stress protection and higher field reliability.

IRS2168D Datasheet

Availability and Pricing Pricing for the IRS2168DSPbF and IRS2168DSTRPbF is US$ 1.33 each in 10,000-unit quantities. Production orders are available immediately. The devices are RoHS compliant and prices are subject to change.