Turning up the heat on reliability

Reducing the chances of a thermal failure. Nexperia offers a wide – and growing – range of diodes, bipolar transistors and MOSFETs that have a junction temperature specified up to 175 °C

Some things never change in the electronics industry. Designers are always being asked to squeeze more functionality into their applications. Yet those applications are being deployed in ever more extreme conditions. And expectations of reliability are continuously on the rise. Once again, packaging technology and innovation are at the forefront of meeting these conflicting challenges.

More functionality in applications means higher power densities and operating temperatures. Moreover, as markets become more globalized, systems face a wider range of ambient temperatures. Obviously, higher ambient temperatures make it more difficult for systems to dissipate excess heat – increasing the chances of a thermal failure in a whole host of under-the-hood applications from engine and gear box control, fuel injection, brakes, cooling fans and pumps to LED lighting.

Extending the junction temperature of the SOT23

Despite turning 50 this year designers still value the SOT23, which is clear from the billions of SOT23-housed products we ship every year. But these designers have to deal with the growing risk of thermal failure that comes with increased power densities and higher operating and ambient temperatures. So, we recently upgraded the venerable SOT23 to specify it up to 175 °C – enabling this industry standard package to continue offering efficiency, consistency and cost benefits.

Among the first devices available in the new high-temperature SOT23 are the BAS16TH / BAS21TH switching diodes and BC807H BC817KH general-purpose transistors. Alongside their higher temperature specification, the new versions of these industry favorites also offer 25% higher total power dissipation. As well as being able to operate at higher temperatures, they stay cooler than previous versions giving another boost to reliability.

An extensive, and growing, 175 °C portfolio

Nexperia already offers a wide range of diodes, bipolar transistors and MOSFETs that have a junction temperature specified up to 175 °C. That includes devices housed in our copper clip package options (both LFPAK and CFP) as well as tiny packages such as the DFN2020 targeting highly space constrained applications. And we will continue to release more devices to make it easy for designers to create fully 175°C specified circuitry.  

For example, we already offer the most comprehensive range of 175 °C rated automotive-qualified MOSFETs, with more than 340 different products housed in a variety of packages from the very small DFN2020 to traditional leaded packages (D2PAK, TO-220) and our efficient LFPAK (LFPAK33, LFPAK56, LFPAK88) copper clip packages. We also have Schottky rectifier options in CFP packages as well as various general-purpose, bipolar power, medium-powered and Resistor Equipped Transistors.

175 °C product overview