Fairchild Semiconductor (www.fairchildsemi.com) has added 11 new devices to its portfolio of AEC-Q101-qualified, low-voltage (30V and 40V) PowerTrench MOSFETs. The devices are intended for automotive applications such as power steering and integrated starters/alternators, as well as in motor- and solenoid-driver designs.

Paul Leonard, vice president of Automotive Power Products in Fairchild’s Functional Power Group, said the 30/40V MOSFETs provide the higher current density and lower power dissipation required by systems evolving from mechanical to electromechanical. Low on-resistance characteristics (as low as 2.0 milliohms) enables one of the new FDxxxxx devices to replace two MOSFETs with higher RDS(on). The 30V FDB8860, for example, offers about half the on-resistance (2.3 milliohms) of 55V or 60V MOSFETs, thus offering half the power dissipation of higher voltage devices.

“This low on-resistance means higher efficiency due to lower power losses and less heat generation in automotive designs,” Leonard said, adding that the new devices are UIS rated and meet the AEC-Q101 automotive standard.
Fairchild is also developing 30V and 40V MOSFET and Smart Power Module products to address “under-the-hood applications” such as power steering, which is also evolving from mechanical to electric, and Leonard said that alternative powertrain technologies, including electric and hybrid electric propulsion, will require DC/DC converters capable of handling 1 to 40kW and integrated starter generator and traction motor inverters able to process from 5 to 120kW or more.
Leonard said that Fairchild can leverage its discrete technology to deliver standard and application-specific high-power devices.