AVX Offers Zinc Oxide Based Transient Voltage Suppressor Series With Low Leakage Current

AVX Corp. has developed a Zinc Oxide based varistor series that exhibits a low leakage current of 2µA maximum. Designated the UltraGuard Series, the multilayer ceramic varistors feature non-linear, bi-directional voltage-current characteristics similar to back-to-back zener diodes and an EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) capacitor in parallel.

"Our UltraGuard Varistor Series offers many electrical advantages over zener diodes, including better repetitive strike capability, higher in rush current capability, faster turn-on-time, and inherent EMI/RFI attenuation," said Sonja Brown, Global Circuit Protection Product Manager, "Furthermore, the varistors are significantly smaller, saving important board space."

The UltraGuard Series comes in discrete chips available in 0402, 0603, and 0805 sizes; 2-element packages in 0405 and 0508 sizes; and 4-element 0612 packages. Low and high capacitance versions are offered ranging from 40 through to 3000pF.

The varistor series is ideal for transient protection applications where power consumption is a primary concern. These include high clock-speed ICs, battery-operated devices, backlit displays, medical and instrumentation applications, low voltage power conversion circuits and power supervisory chip sets. Further applications are also being found in optics such as laser diodes, laser diode drivers, and serializer and deserializer devices.

Pricing typically starts at $0.11 each in quantities of 10k.