Nexperia announced the addition of two new ideal diode ICs to its continuously growing portfolio of power devices. The NID5100 is suitable for standard industrial and consumer applications while the NID5100-Q100 has been qualified for use in automotive applications. Ideal diodes are MOSFET based devices that offer much lower forward voltage drop than traditional diodes and make the perfect replacement option to standard diodes in systems where power efficiency is paramount. 

The NID5100 and NID5100-Q100 ideal diodes are available in small TSSP6/SOT363-2 leaded plastic packages measuring only 2.1 mm x 1.25 mm x 0.95 mm. Applications that can benefit from the superior electrical performance of the NID5100 ideal diodes include smart meters, fire/security sensors, battery-powered wearables, and automotive telematics units.

The NID5100 is a PMOS based ideal diode where the gate voltage of an internal MOSFET regulates the ‘anode’ to ‘cathode’ voltage to be eight to ten times lower than the forward voltage drop of similarly rated Schottky diodes. Besides the low forward drop, the MOSFET based ideal diode also helps to reduce reverse DC leakage current by up to 100 times compared to a typical Schottky diode. 

Unlike other competitive ideal diodes, the NID5100 supports “OR-ing” multiple power supplies while retaining reverse polarity protection and provides ultra-fast response time for smooth power transfer. Nexperia’s ideal diode offers other advantages, such as a forward regulation voltage of 31 mV (typ), the ability to handle forward current up to 1.5 A, and an automatic transition between OR-ed supplies. It operates within a voltage range of 1.2 V to 5.5 V and has impressively low current consumption, with a 3.3 V VIN shutdown current of just 170 nA and a quiescent current of 240 nA. The diode further includes reverse voltage protection with an absolute maximum rating of -6 V and an output status indication (ST), making it a robust and efficient choice for power management applications.