Automotive-Grade Regulators Deliver 5 V, 8 V, or 12 V Outputs and Tolerate 60 V Battery Transients


December 4, 2017 | Product Brief | Diodes, Inc. has announced the ZXTR2105FQ, ZXTR2108FQ, and ZXTR2112FQ regulator transistors. These devices are qualified to AEC-Q101 standards for high reliability and are product part approval process (PPAP)-capable. Designed to deliver 5 V, 8 V, or 12 V regulated outputs from nominal battery supplies of 12 V or 24 V, these regulator transistors are well-suited for powering vehicle electronics. This product family can tolerate battery voltage spikes up to 60 V, making possible applications that cannot use standard linear regulators.

By monolithically integrating a transistor, Zener diode, and resistor into a SOT23 package, these regulator transistors reduce component count, which minimizes PCB area and increases system reliability by reducing PCB interconnect. The ZXTR2105FQ is targeted at applications that require a 5 V ±5 percent regulated supply from a 12 V battery, e.g., for a stable MCU supply within the required 4.7 V to 5.3 V supply range. The ZXTR2112FQ is aimed at cars and trucks that have 24 V batteries but need a 12 V ±10 percent supply for applications such as the VCC supply for gate driver ICs. All these regulator transistors deliver an output current up to 15 mA.

The 60 V maximum input rating of all these regulators ensures sufficient headroom in the event of transient over-voltage conditions, while their line and load regulation safeguards continuous operation by ensuring transient voltage drops cannot cause latch-up, further contributing to system reliability.

The automotive-qualified ZXTR21xxFQ devices provide a highly reliable and compact solution to common voltage regulator requirements in vehicle electronics and are priced at $0.15 in 10,000 quantities.