MUNICH, Germany – Infineon Technologies AG is taking the next step towards smallest power supply devices for automotive electronics. The company is the first chipmaker to set up a dedicated production process for flip-chip packages that are fully aligned with the high-quality requirements of the automotive market. Infineon now launches the first respective product: the linear voltage regulator OPTIREG™ TLS715B0NAV50.
With flip-chip technology, the ICs are installed face down in the package. With the heated part of the IC closer to the package bottom of the PCB, thermal inductance can improve by a factor between 2 and 3. The higher power density enables a significantly smaller footprint than conventional package technologies.
The footprint of Infineon’s new linear voltage regulator (TSNP-7-8 package, 2.0 mm x 2.0 mm) is more than 60 percent smaller than that of an established reference product (TSON-10 package, 3.3 mm x 3.3 mm) while the thermal resistance stays the same. This makes the new device particularly suitable for applications with very limited board space, such as radar and cameras. The OPTIREG TLS715B0NAV50 provides 5 V with a maximum output current capability of 150 mA.
Flip-chip technology has been used in consumer and industrial markets for several years. Increasingly strict space requirements, particularly in the growing number of radar and camera systems meant that smaller power supply solutions – albeit with much higher quality are required in automotive electronics. Infineon does not rely on a subsequent qualification of existing consumer and industrial products but on a dedicated production process for automotive devices to offer best-in-class flip-chip quality.
In the future, flip-chip technology will strengthen Infineon’s overall portfolio of automotive power supply products in the OPTIREG family. The chipmaker is planning to apply it also to its switch-mode voltage regulators and power management ICs.