Microchip Launches Silicon Carbide Electronic Fuse Demonstration Board

The E-Fuse demonstration board can detect and interrupt fault currents at the microsecond level, thanks to the high-voltage solid-state design, which is 100 to 500 times faster than traditional mechanical methods. The fast response time can greatly reduce the peak short-circuit current, which can drop from tens of kiloamperes to hundreds of amperes, thereby preventing hard faults caused by fault events.

Clayton Pillion, Vice President of Microchip's Silicon Carbide Business Department, said: "This E-Fuse demo board provides BEV/HEV OEM designers with solutions based on silicon carbide technology, which can protect electronic equipment faster and more reliably, thus quickly starting the development process. E-Fuse's solid state design also alleviates concerns about the long-term reliability of electromechanical equipment, and will not deteriorate due to mechanical shock, arc or contact rebound."

With the resettable function of the E-fuse demonstration board, designers can easily package the device in the vehicle without worrying about the maintainability limitations of the design. This reduces design complexity and enables flexible vehicle encapsulation, which can improve the powertrain distribution of BEV/HEV.

Due to the built-in Local Interconnect Network (LIN) communication interface of the E-fuse demonstration board, OEM manufacturers can accelerate the development of SiC based auxiliary applications. The LIN interface can be configured with overcurrent tripping characteristics, without the need to modify hardware components, and can also report diagnostic status.

The E-fuse demonstration board adopts Microchip's SiC MOSFET technology and PIC ® The CPU independent peripheral (CIP) and LIN based interface of the microcontroller provide unparalleled durability and performance. These supporting components have passed automotive certification, with fewer components and higher reliability compared to discrete designs.

Microchip's SiC power supply solution provides the industry's broadest and most flexible portfolio of MOSFETs, diodes, and gate drivers, including bare chips, discrete devices, modules, and customizable power modules. For more information about Microchip silicon carbide semiconductors, please visit our website.

development tool

E-Fuse Demo Board by MPLAB ® X Integrated Development Environment (IDE) support enables customers to quickly develop or debug software. The LIN serial analyzer development tool enables customers to easily send and receive serial information from their PC to the E-Fuse demo board.