Silicon germanium rectifiers bring thermal stability

Targeting automotive, communications infrastructure and server markets, the new 1-3 A SiGe rectifiers are of particular benefit in high-temperature applications like LED lighting, engine control units or fuel injection. Design engineers using the new, extremely low leakage devices can now rely on an extended safe-operating area with no thermal runaway up to 175°.

At the same time, they can optimize their design for higher efficiency which is not feasible using fast recovery diodes commonly used in such high-temperature designs. By boosting a low forward voltage (Vf) and low Qrr, the SiGe rectifiers have an advantage of 10-20 % lower conduction losses.

The PMEG SiGe devices (PMEGxGxELR/P) are housed in size- and thermally-efficient CFP3 and CFP5 packages that have become the industry standard for power diodes. By featuring a solid copper clip the packages’ thermal resistance is reduced and transfer of heat into the ambient environment is optimized, allowing small and compact PCB designs. Moreover, simple pin-to-pin replacements of Schottky and fast recovery diodes are possible when switching to SiGe technology.

Jan Fischer, Nexperia Product Manager, commented: “Utilising Nexperia’s innovative Silicon Germanium technology gives engineers unprecedented options to design their power circuitry and finally build market-leading products. SiGe perfectly complements Nexperia’s power diodes offering which includes more than 100 Schottky and fast recovery rectifiers in the clip-bonded FlatPower (CFP) package. And, we continue to grow this portfolio to always offer our customers a part which is the ideal fit for their application."

The first four AEC-Q101-qualified 120 V SiGe rectifiers are already in mass production. A further eight 150 V and 200 V devices are sampling now.