Application-specific MOSFETs provide enhanced dynamic current sharing for high power industrial applications

Nexperia introduces the latest additions to its portfolio of application-specific MOSFETs (ASFETs), whose features have been tuned to meet the exacting requirements of specific end applications.

The 80V PSMN1R9-80SSJ and 100V PSMN2R3-100SSJ switches have been designed to provide enhanced dynamic current sharing in high-power 48V applications that require the use of several closely matched MOSFETs connected in parallel. These include motor drive in electric vehicles like forklifts, e-scooters and mobility devices, as well as high-power industrial motors.

When connecting two or more MOSFETs in parallel to support high current capability and reduce conduction losses, it can be challenging for designers to ensure the load current is shared equally between individual devices during turn-on and turn-off. MOSFETs with the lowest V_GS(th) will turn on first, causing higher thermal stress resulting in accelerated failure. In order to provide a sufficient safety margin, engineers often over-specify the MOSFETs used in their end applications. This expensive and time-consuming approach often requires additional testing but still cannot provide guarantees on how devices will behave at higher load currents (tens of Amps). An alternative approach is to request tightly matched devices from a supplier, but this can further raise the cost of an end application.

The features of Nexperia’s PSMN1R9-80SSJ and PSMN2R3-100SSJ ASFETs eliminate the need for designers to adopt either of these approaches by providing enhanced dynamic current sharing. These switches offer a 50% lower current delta between parallel devices (for currents up to 50A per device) at turn-on/off and also offer a V_GS(th) window that is up to 50% lower (0.6V min-to-max). This benefit, combined with the low R_DS(on) of 1.9 mΩ or 2.3 mΩ helps to provide high efficiency in power switching applications.

The new ASFET devices are available in the rugged, space-efficient 8mm x 8mm copper-clip LFPAK88 package, delivering operating temperature ranging from -55 °C to +175 °C.