Small size, big power: How can innovative packaging technology enable the miniaturization of automotive electronics?

For automotive electronic products, an important measure to achieve miniaturization is to "compress" the size of components to maximize the utilization of the "every inch of land is valuable" PCB area. At this time, the optimization of component packaging technology is particularly important. Excellent packaging technology must not only make the appearance of components as compact as possible, but also meet the needs of heat dissipation to carry higher power density (this is especially important for power devices), and also consider compatibility with PCB automatic assembly processes. Therefore, it is a great test of the strength of component manufacturers and is of course an important dimension for establishing competitive advantages.

Taking diodes as an example, in order to meet the requirements of miniaturization, people developed a series of SMD surface mount packages in the early stage, such as SMA (DO-214AC), SMB (DO-214AA) and SMC (DO-214AB), etc. These packages can meet the basic functionality and reliability requirements of diodes on the one hand, and on the other hand, they do provide better miniaturization and economy compared with traditional lead packages.

However, with the development of applications, the advantages of these "first-generation" diode packaging technologies in terms of volume and structure have gradually been "flattened", and people continue to iterate and upgrade packaging technology around the goal of "miniaturization", such as developing SMP (DO-220AA) packaging with smaller dimensions. The goal people pursue is clear: while ensuring the efficient thermal performance and good electrical performance of the diode, minimize the size to meet the needs of higher power density applications.

In recent years, DFN (Dual Flat No-lead Package) packaging has become a new hot spot for diode packaging technology innovation, attracting the attention of many manufacturers. Compared with traditional SMD packaging, the technical advantages of DFN packaging are reflected in the following aspects:

It is not difficult to see that due to its smaller size, better heat dissipation performance and higher production flexibility, DFN packaging is very suitable for application scenarios with high requirements on size and thermal management.

Recognizing the outstanding advantages of DFN packaging in miniaturization, various component manufacturers are focusing on this new packaging technology. The DFN3820A power DFN package launched by Vishay can be said to be a unique benchmark technology.

Figure 1: Vishay's DFN3820A packaging technology

(Image source: Vishay)

First of all, in terms of appearance, the DFN3820A adopts a 3.8mm x 2.0mm flat package, which is compatible with the miniaturized SMP (DO-220AA) package in terms of board area, and the package height is only 0.88mm, which is 12% less than the SMP package. This undoubtedly brings more space and flexibility to system design.

Figure 2: The DFN3820A package height is 12% lower than the SMP package

(Image source: Vishay)

Secondly, the optimized internal structure of the DFN3820A package provides excellent thermal performance. The pad design that "reaches" the PCB board greatly shortens the heat conduction path. This enables the diode using the DFN3820A package to achieve a higher operating current (rated current up to 7A) compared to the SMP package with the same board area. The increased power density also makes its performance comparable to traditional large-size packages such as SMB and SMC.

Figure 3: The DFN3820A package has higher power density

(Image source: Vishay)

At the same time, in terms of production and manufacturing, DFN3820A provides tin-plated wettable sides, which can achieve lower cost and higher efficiency automatic optical inspection (AOI) without the need for X-ray inspection, which is very suitable for the automotive industry, which has special requirements for high safety and high reliability standards.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that the DFN3820A packaging technology has passed the AEC-Q101 automotive standard and Vishay's automotive grade certification, which means that it has met the industry's higher standards in terms of quality and reliability. This also paves the way for products using the DFN3820A package to be successfully installed on the vehicle.

Today, based on the DFN3820A packaging technology, Vishay has launched a series of automotive diode products, including a rich product portfolio of standard rectifiers, ultrafast rectifiers, Schottky rectifiers, and TVS, helping developers create high-performance, high-reliability, and miniaturized solutions required for automotive applications.

Vishay's DFN3820A package standard rectifiers include three models (SE20Nx, SE30Nx and SE40Nx), with rated currents from 2A to 4A, all providing reverse voltages of 200V, 400V and 600V.

With the DFN3820A package technology, these rectifiers have a 12% reduction in form factor while doubling the rated current compared to SMP package devices of the same size. Compared to devices with larger package sizes - such as traditional SMB and SMC packages, as well as Vishay's eSMP ^®️ series of SlimSMA, SlimSMAW, SMPA, and SMPC packages - the DFN3820A packaged rectifiers can provide equivalent or higher rated currents.

Figure 4: Compared with other packages, the DFN3820A packaged rectifier can provide equivalent or higher rated current (Image source: Vishay)

In addition, the electrostatic interference immunity of the standard rectifier in the DFN3820A package meets the IEC61000-4-2 air discharge mode, with a typical performance of >15kV, and has a wide operating junction temperature range from -55°C to 175°C, which is very suitable for applications such as automotive general rectifiers, polarity protection, and rail-to-rail protection.

In the complex electromagnetic environment of automobiles, TVS rectifiers are widely used to provide overvoltage protection for sensitive electronic devices such as sensor units, MOSFETs, and signal lines.

Based on DFN3820A packaging technology, Vishay has launched TVS rectifiers with surge power up to 600 W. These TVS rectifiers include unidirectional devices from 12V to 51V and bidirectional devices from 12V to 100V, with performance equivalent to devices in SMB and slimSMAW packages, but with obvious advantages in appearance.

With an operating junction temperature range from -65°C to 175°C, these TVSs in the DFN3820A package can meet a wide range of application requirements such as automotive ADAS, BMS and steering systems, domain control, and central control units.

Figure 5: The DFN3820A packaged TVS rectifier is more compact, while offering comparable performance to SMB and slimSMAW packaged devices

(Image source: Vishay)

Trench MOS Schottky diodes (TMBS) have better reverse blocking characteristics and lower reverse leakage current than traditional Schottky barrier diodes, making them ideal for high current density and high efficiency rectification applications.

Vishay TMBS rectifiers mainly include 60V, 100V and 150V devices using TMBS Gen 3 chip technology, and 200V devices using TMBS Gen 2 chip technology. Their current ratings are 2A to 7A. Due to their extremely low forward voltage and reverse leakage, as well as low junction capacitance, they can greatly reduce the switching losses of active devices.

The adoption of the DFN3820A package has made Vishay's TMBS rectifier even better, achieving outstanding miniaturization advantages. The power density of the TMBS rectifier based on the DFN3820A package is 50% higher than that of the traditional SMA and 12% higher than that of the SMF. In terms of PCB layout, it saves 85% of space compared to traditional SMB package devices and saves 42% of space compared to the SlimSMAW package of the eSMP ^®️ series. Compared with the SMP package, its current rating is doubled. Excellent heat dissipation performance enables it to achieve a wide operating junction temperature range of -40°C to 175°C. These characteristics help it to perform well in automotive applications with compact space and higher power density requirements.

Figure 6: The DFN3820A TMBS rectifier has higher power density

(Image source: Vishay)

The design requirements for miniaturization of automotive electronics have driven semiconductor component manufacturers to continuously innovate in packaging technology and develop more compact packaging forms that can meet the requirements of high performance, reliability and automated production for automotive applications.

Under this trend, Vishay's DFN3820A packaging technology came into being. Compared with previous diode packaging technologies, devices using DFN3820A packaging have a smaller and thinner "body", but can carry a higher power density. Moreover, these devices have passed AEC-Q101 and Vishay's automotive-grade certification, so they can be used in promoting the miniaturization of automotive electronics. They can be described as "small body, big power".

Visit the following special pages to learn more about Vishay's DFN3820A packaging technology and how it can empower you in the miniaturization of automotive electronics design:

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