Siliconix Announces New Si91860DY IC, and Si9912 and Si9913 MOSFET Drivers
Siliconix Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) announced the release of three new integrated circuits aimed at power conversion applications in notebook and desktop computers. The new Si91860DY is specifically designed to regulate power for network interface cards (NIC), PCMCIA cards and PCI interface cards. The new device combines an ultra-low supply current that reduces power consumption with a highly integrated design that requires only four external components for a complete application circuit. It provides a minimum peak output current of 600mA, and is capable of carrying at least a 400mA continuous load current under any power input condition.
For high-frequency, high-current designs, Siliconix has released two new half-bridge MOSFET drivers. By offloading the power MOSFET drive requirement from the controller IC, the new Si9912 and Si9913 increase system design flexibility in desktop and notebook computers as well as computer peripherals and consumer electronic products.
The Si9912 and Si9913 offer an extended input voltage range of 4.5V to 30V, with a supply voltage of 4.5V to 5.5V. Packaged in the eight-pin SOIC, both devices integrate drivers capable of switching a 3,000pF load with a 60ns propagation delay and a transition time of 25ns. This fast switching speed minimizes switching losses and increases power efficiency.
Outfitted with an integrated bootstrap diode on the high-side driver, both the Si9912 and Si9913 are capable of handling the high-voltage slews associated with “floating" high-side gate drivers. The new devices offer a 1A drive current that supports switching frequencies up to 1MHz. The half-bridge MOSFET drivers also include an under-voltage lockout and an automatic break-before-make circuit prevent shoot-through current in the external MOSFETs to ensure that both the high-side and low-side MOSFETs do not operate at the same time.
