Infineon Helps ´Power Down´ Electric Lighting - New Power Semiconductor Technology to Lower Costs and Reduce Energy Consumption up to 25 Percent

Oct 20, 2003 | Market News

Munich, Germany – October 20, 2003 – Infineon Technologies (FSE, NYSE: IFX) today announced a new member of its IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) product family. The new LightMOS™ IGBTs offer an cost-optimized alternative to MOSFETs (metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors) typically used in Electronic Lamp Ballasts (ELB) for fluorescent tubes, allowing a 1-to-1 replacement at approximately a 15 percent lower price with same functionality. Compared to conventional magnetic lamp ballasts, use of the ELBs can reduce the power consumption of lighting systems by up to 25 percent annually. This has the potential to significantly reduce worldwide energy consumption for artificial lighting.

Infineon will be presenting its new power semiconductors in Booth #822 at the PowerSystems World 2003 trade show November 4 - 7, 2003, in Long Beach, California.

The LightMOS IGBTs, which are intended for use in ballast inverters as a 600 V blocking power switch and are optimized for switching frequencies between 40 and 60 kHz, are available now.

LightMOS IGBTs, which are the first in the industry to have powerful monolithically integrated reverse diodes, exhibit the low power losses of a MOSFET and the low temperature dependency of an IGBT. This makes lamp ballast design easier, faster and more cost-effective. Improved reliability is achieved due to the characteristic IGBT temperature behavior, which has less risk of the thermal run away that is a critical consideration with MOSFETs. In addition, the LightMOS IGBTs combine Infineon’s FieldStop technology with a Trench cell (TrenchStop technology) for lowest conduction and switching losses, and can be applied much closer to its specification limits.

The advantages of TrenchStop technology include an exceptional ruggedness and short-circuit withstanding capability, increased reliability, and low electromagnetic interference (EMI). The FieldStop structure within the power devices ensures a significant reduction in the tail current that occurs during turn-off switching, and the Trench cell limits conduction losses to a minimum due to extremely low saturation voltage. As a result, considerably less heat is generated.

The new LightMOS IGBTs are available in space-saving DPak and D 2Pack packages, resulting in cost advantages of about 15 percent on the device level. LightMOS devices in DPak packages can replace 1.5-to-3 Ohm MOSFETs. LightMOS products also are available in TO-220 and TO-220 Fullpack packages, and can replace 1 Ohm MOSFETs when appropriate cooling is applied.

Availability and Pricing



The new LightMOS IGBTs are available now in sample quantities, with volume availability planned in mid-November 2003. In quantities of 50k units, the price per unit is below US $0.27 (below Euro 0.25) with a 600 V, 3 A, DPak package.

Further information on Infineon’s IGBT products is available at: www.infineon.com/lightmos

About Infineon



Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions for the automotive and industrial sectors, for applications in the wired communications markets, secure mobile solutions as well as memory products. With a global presence, Infineon operates in the US from San Jose, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo. In fiscal year 2002 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 5.21 billion with about 30,400 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX). Further information is available at http://www.infineon.com.

Information Number

INFAI200310.002

Press Photos

  • LightMOS(tm) from Infineon helps to reduce Power Demand for Lighting by up to 25 Percent
    LightMOS(tm) from Infineon helps to reduce Power Demand for Lighting by up to 25 Percent
    LightMOS(tm) Chip

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    LightMOS(tm) Chip

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  • LightMOS(tm) from Infineon helps to reduce Power Demand for Lighting by up to 25 Percent
    LightMOS(tm) from Infineon helps to reduce Power Demand for Lighting by up to 25 Percent
    LightMOS(tm) Chip

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    LightMOS(tm) Chip

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  • LightMOS(tm) from Infineon helps to reduce Power Demand for Lighting by up to 25 Percent    Photo: OSRAM GmbH
    LightMOS(tm) from Infineon helps to reduce Power Demand for Lighting by up to 25 Percent Photo: OSRAM GmbH
    LightMOS(tm) Chip

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    LightMOS(tm) Chip

    JPG | 13 kb | 160 x 111 px

  • LightMOS(tm) from Infineon helps to reduce Power Demand for Lighting by up to 25 Percent
    LightMOS(tm) from Infineon helps to reduce Power Demand for Lighting by up to 25 Percent
    LightMOS(tm) Chip

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    LightMOS(tm) Chip

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  • LightMOS(tm) from Infineon helps to reduce Power Demand for Lighting by up to 25 Percent
    LightMOS(tm) from Infineon helps to reduce Power Demand for Lighting by up to 25 Percent
    LightMOS(tm) Chip

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    LightMOS(tm) Chip

    JPG | 18 kb | 111 x 160 px

  • LightMOS(tm) from Infineon helps to reduce Power Demand for Lighting by up to 25 Percent
    LightMOS(tm) from Infineon helps to reduce Power Demand for Lighting by up to 25 Percent
    LightMOS(tm) Chip

    JPG | 336 kb | 1063 x 1535 px

    LightMOS(tm) Chip

    JPG | 19 kb | 111 x 160 px

  • LightMOS(tm) from Infineon helps to reduce Power Demand for Lighting by up to 25 Percent
    LightMOS(tm) from Infineon helps to reduce Power Demand for Lighting by up to 25 Percent
    LightMOS(tm) Chip

    JPG | 189 kb | 1535 x 1063 px

    LightMOS(tm) Chip

    JPG | 13 kb | 160 x 111 px

  • LightMOS(tm) from Infineon helps to reduce Power Demand for Lighting by up to 25 Percent
    LightMOS(tm) from Infineon helps to reduce Power Demand for Lighting by up to 25 Percent
    LightMOS(tm) Chip

    JPG | 313 kb | 1535 x 1063 px

    LightMOS(tm) Chip

    JPG | 12 kb | 160 x 111 px

  • LightMOS(tm) from Infineon helps to reduce Power Demand for Lighting by up to 25 Percent    Photo: OSRAM GmbH
    LightMOS(tm) from Infineon helps to reduce Power Demand for Lighting by up to 25 Percent Photo: OSRAM GmbH
    LightMOS(tm) Chip

    JPG | 198 kb | 1535 x 1063 px

    LightMOS(tm) Chip

    JPG | 13 kb | 160 x 111 px