TDK Corporation has extended its range of TVS (transient voltage suppression) diodes characterized by their extremely low capacitance values for bidirectional overvoltage protection to include the ULC series (Ultra Low Clamping & Capacitance). The SD01005SL-ULC101 (B74111U0033M060) type has a minimum capacitance of ~0.5 pF and the SD0201SL-ULC101 (B74121U0033M060) type of ~0.6 pF, both at 1 MHz.

The new TVS diodes are designed for a maximum operating voltage of 3.3 V. The ULC products offer an extremely low clamping voltage of ~3.8 V at a peak pulse current of 8 A or 16 A at ~5 V and a breakdown voltage of 6.3 V. Further features include very short response times and the extremely low leakage current of ~1 nA at 3.3 V. They are designed in accordance with IEC 61000-4-2 for an ESD contact discharge of up to 15 kV.

Despite the high-level performance of robust protective components, the diodes meet the highest requirements in terms of miniaturization. Their dimensions in the Wafer-Level Chip Scale Package (WL-CSP) are just 400 x 200 µm (WL-CSP01005) or 600 x 300 µm (WL-CSP0201) with a height of 100 µm in the 01005 sizes or 150 µm in the 0201 sizes. Despite their extremely small size, the components are designed for a high surge current load of up to 7 A according to IEC 61000-4-5 (8/20 µs).

The diodes are well suited for the reliable ESD protection of high-speed interface ICs and data lines such as USB 3.1, USB 3.2, HDMI, FireWire, and Thunderbolt due to their parasitic capacitances, clamping voltage, and small size. Typical target applications include smartphones, notebooks, tablets, wearables, and ESD-sensitive network components.