Product category:
Discrete Power Devices
News Release from: Fairchild Semiconductor | Subject: EcoSpark
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 21 June 2001
Smallest packaged IGBT for automotive
ignition
New from Fairchild Semiconductor, the EcoSpark family of IGBTs is designed for use as ignition coil drivers.
New from Fairchild Semiconductor, the EcoSpark family of IGBTs is designed for use as ignition coil drivers The newest products boast a 30% reduction in silicon chip area and can be packaged in either the industry standard D-Pak or D2-Pak
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 28 Feb 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Previously, silicon ignition coil drivers were only available in D2-Paks.
The new EcoSpark technology enables a die size that is small enough to fit into a D-Pak without giving up performance.
This size reduction makes the EcoSpark family the smallest available solution for driving ignition coils and the first on the market that can deliver the function in this 60% boardspace-saving package.
The smaller die size also makes these products extremely cost competitive.
The new generation of ignition IGBTs was developed in the Discrete Power Products Group recently acquired from Intersil.
This is the second automotive product technology introduced since the March acquisition, demonstrating Fairchild's commitment to increase market share in automotive electronics.
Automotive engines must have precisely controlled spark timing and sparkplug voltage to ensure high-efficiency and low-emissions.
The ignition control in the powertrain systems is moving to a coil-on-plug ("pencil coil") concept.
This eliminates the high voltage wires and with the one ignition coil per cylinder, improves the spark control to meet increasingly lower emissions specifications.
When the ignition coil drivers are mounted in the newer smaller coils, they offer improved space savings without sacrificing performance.
EcoSpark ignition coil drivers integrate an active voltage clamp between the collector and the gate that provides self-clamped inductive switching (SCIS) and limits the stress applied to the ignition coil.
The EcoSpark series enables the same level of SCIS robustness (300mJ) in the 60% smaller D-Pak package.
Saturation voltage is rated at 175C with 10A with some products as low as 1.9V maximum.
A 500mJ SCIS rated part is also being introduced that offers a cost reduction over the previous generation.
The EcoSpark family consists of 360 and 400V products in the D-Pak (TO-252) and D2-Pak (TO-263) packages with true single pulse collector-to-emitter avalanche energy ratings from 200 to 500mJ.
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