TOSHIBA LAUNCHES PHOTOVOLTAIC-OUTPUT PHOTOCOUPLER FOR ISOLATED SSR FUNCTIONS

KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 (Bernama) -- Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation (Toshiba) has launched ‘TLP3910’, a photovoltaic-output photocoupler (photovoltaic coupler) housed in a thin SO6L package.

It is suitable for driving the gates of high-voltage power MOSFETs used as isolated solid state relay (SSR) functions.

In a statement, Toshiba said the volume production shipments have started.

An SSR is a kind of semiconductor relays that has a photo triac, a photo transistor or photo thyristor as its output device, suitable for applications for performing ON/OFF control of large currents.

A photovoltaic coupler is a photorelay with its optical devices but without the MOSFET used to perform switching functions.

In configuring an isolated SSR, high-voltage, large-current switching, which photorelays handle with difficulty, can be implemented easily by combining a photovoltaic coupler and a MOSFET.

Driving a high-voltage power MOSFET with a gate voltage of 10V or higher, requires connecting two of Toshiba’s current product, the TLP3906, in series, as it has a low open voltage.

In contrast, the new TLP3910 has a minimum open voltage of 14V, double that of TLP3906, and only one is required to drive the gate of a high-voltage power MOSFET, contributing to part-count reduction.

-- BERNAMA