Toshiba develops PV photocoupler for automotive applications

Japan’s Toshiba says its new PV output photocoupler for solid-state relay could be used for battery management systems, onboard chargers, and inverters.

The TLX9910

Image: Toshiba

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Japanese electronics manufacturer Toshiba has released a new PV output photocoupler for solid-state relay. The TLX9910 solution is made for automotive equipment, such as battery management systems, onboard chargers, and inverters.

Photovoltaic output photocouplers are electronic components that use light-emitting diodes (LED) and a photovoltaic cell in a single package, allowing two circuits to communicate optically. They provide electrical isolation between the control and load-carrying circuits in solid-state relays. The latter are electronic switches that use semiconductor devices.

“The new TLX9910 is suitable for gating high-voltage power MOSFET (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor) used in solid state relays,” the company said in a statement. “By combining the new product with a high-voltage power MOSFET, high-voltage and high-current switchings that are difficult to achieve with photorelays can be achieved.”

The TLX9910, a surface-mount, four-pin device with SO6 packaging, measures 3.7 mm in length, 7 mm in width, and 2.1 mm in thickness, with an open voltage of 13.5 V – 1.9 times higher than Toshiba’s previous model.

“High voltage power MOSFET tend to require a higher gate-drive voltage as the amount of output voltage, and current are larger,” the company said. “By improving the minimum open voltage of the new product, it is possible to drive the gate of a high voltage power MOSFET with a single product, thereby reducing the number of components mounted on the board.”

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The TLX9910, as per the datasheet, features a minimum short-circuit current of 8 μA and an isolation voltage of 3,750 Vrms. It has maximum turn-on and turn-off times of one millisecond, with typical turn-on and turn-off times of 0.5 milliseconds and 0.1 milliseconds, respectively.

“Since the solid state relay does not have physical contacts like mechanical relays, contact troubles, and operation noises during ON/OFF are less likely to occur,” the company said. “Therefore, it is suitable for switch applications of electric mobility.”

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