New Fairchild automotive SuperFET II MOSFETs and HV Rectifiers for power electronics in electrified vehicles
01 April 2015
Fairchild, a leading global supplier of high-performance power semiconductor solutions, has introduced the automotive-qualified SuperFET II MOSFET and High Voltage Rectifier product families, both of which enable cleaner and smarter vehicles overall and are suited for increasing the power ratings of onboard chargers and DC-to-DC converters used in hybrid, plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles.
“A chief goal for plug-in hybrid and electric vehicle manufacturers is keeping on-board battery chargers and DC-DC converters as light and small as possible while increasing power levels. With the broad portfolio of new SuperFET II MOSFETs and High Voltage Rectifiers, Fairchild is enabling manufacturers to maximize efficiency, power density and reliability of these units, which is key to reducing their size and weight and is of course in line with the environmental, economic and energy benefits inherent in electric vehicle development,” said Fabio Necco, Director, Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Segment at Fairchild.
650V SuperFET II MOSFETs. Fairchild’s AEC-Q101 qualified 650V SuperFET II MOSFET family comprises 9 devices in a wide range of package options and covering an industry-low 41 mOhm RDS(on), enabling customers to reduce both switching and conduction losses.
The 650V SuperFET II MOSFET family is well suited for hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles as its low specific resistance and excellent switching performance enable high levels of efficiency. The new family uses the latest super-junction technology to enable both a small form factor and greater efficiency while its robust built-in diode at high dv/dt conditions can improve bridge circuit reliability.
Additionally, the 650V SuperFET II MOSFET family’s body-diode performance enables manufacturers to achieve superior switching performance with low electromagnetic interference (EMI). This is important as hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles are inherently harsh EMI environments and adding as little additional EMI as possible is an advantage to improve the whole system reliability.
High Voltage Rectifiers. Complementing the 650V SuperFET II MOSFETs is Fairchild’s family of automotive High Voltage Rectifiers, which combine performance with automotive-level reliability. The family is qualified to meet the industry’s AEC-Q101 specification and available in a broad range of voltage and current ratings, which makes them suited for the on-board chargers of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles, as well as DC to DC converters, stationary chargers and other high-voltage powertrain applications.
This product family is currently divided into three technology platforms—Ultrafast, Hyperfast and STEALTH—that were designed considering the trade-offs between switching loss and conduction loss.
Ultrafast has the lowest VF (forward voltage), which makes it suitable for low switching frequency applications and applications without a strict EMI requirement. The Hyperfast devices have lower turn off time for faster switching applications such as PFC stages and secondary rectification stage of onboard charger.
Stealth rectifiers are faster than the Hyperfast and offer soft recovery to reduce noise and ringing at the cost of a somewhat higher VF (compared to Ultrafast) and higher reverse recovery charge Qrr (compared to Hyperfast). They are also suitable for high switch frequency applications with an EMI requirement, such as PFC.
Fairchild’s nine new automotive High Voltage Rectifiers are available with breakdown voltages of 600V and 1000V, forward currents from 15A to 80A and multiple package options, including TO247, TO220 and die sales (wafer, Tape &Reel and Known Good Die). With these new additions, Fairchild’s portfolio of automotive qualified rectifier is made up of 22 products. Fairchild can also customize these devices to suit manufacturers’ specific needs, such as custom dies and breakdown voltages.
I'm wondering if these families are built around GaAs and SiC. Otherwise, I don't think they could achieve these Voltages and size reductions???
But I would think they'd be bragging about this so I'm a bit confused.
Posted by: DaveD | 01 April 2015 at 09:01 PM
Meh, I did a little searching and Fairchild has been going big into SiC which makes sense if they're going for the extreme voltages...but how can their marketing guys fail this one so badly? If you're going to spend the money and resources to go to the tech of the future and then forget to brag about it in your marketing materials, press releases, etc? Wow, someone needs to be fired.
Posted by: DaveD | 01 April 2015 at 09:17 PM
DaveD, I am certain the rectifiers are Silicon Nitride; not sure about the MOSFETs but they probably are, too. There is still room for innovative improvement in the more "conventional" materials; moreover they are very competitively priced and very high yield as well. I'm as excited about the wide band gap as anyone, but as you can see there's a lot we can accomplish with extant materials and industrial processes.
Don't fire the marketing guy.
Posted by: Herman | 02 April 2015 at 02:24 PM
LOL Well, if they're not using the SiC yet, then the marketing guy is fine...and I'm the idiot assuming too much. :)
Posted by: DaveD | 02 April 2015 at 02:38 PM
DaveD, your assumption wasn't unreasonable. Semiconductor improvements being made with conventional materials continue to blow me away, too.
The general public can sort of "get" the idea of batteries, but power electronics are arcane talk to most folks. This sort of thing goes under the radar screen in most of the business press and GCC is one of the few places to keep it in the spotlight alongside the Battery Breakthrough of the Week that may or may not happen.
Thanks, Mike Millikin.
Posted by: Herman | 03 April 2015 at 12:13 PM