Many small DC motors with brushes and permanent magnets for field magnets are used for devices like windshield wipers, power windows, and power seats in automobiles. A DC motor with small brushes is simple in structure and low in cost and has a large starting torque. But when it rotates, a spark is discharged at the point of contact between brushes and commutators. This causes noise and wears the brushes. A ring varistor can be attached to a commutator and used as a surge protection device to absorb and reduce noise, and protect the contacts.
TDK's ring varistor VAR-18 series use a strontium titanate semiconductive ceramic material whose electrical characteristics and physical performance are greatly improved compared to the conventional levels. This lineup covers a wide variety of shapes and dimensions as well as conventional sizes to meet various requirements. This flexibility and ease of use are great advantages for this lineup.

With the rapid advancement of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving technologies, the number of sensing devices such as cameras, radars, and microphones installed in vehicles is increasing significantly. As high-performance components proliferate, Tier 1 manufacturers face three major challenges: ensuring high reliability, reducing PCB footprint for miniaturization, and achieving cost reduction.
Among these, protection against electrostatic discharge (ESD) is a critical factor that directly impacts the stability of in-vehicle communication systems.
To address these needs, TDK offers the AVRH Series of chip varistors as ESD protection components for automotive communication applications, providing a smaller and higher-performance alternative to conventional TVS diodes.

TDK Corporation (TSE:6762) announces the release of five new SMD multilayer varistors (MLVs). As an industry first, these components feature a reduced carbon (CO2) footprint while fulfilling demanding automotive qualification requirements. These parts are the first representatives of TDK’s new X-series, which is continually being expanded for automotive as well as for industrial and consumer applications. The X series satisfies both the growing demand for eco-friendly products, and the commercial requirement for cost-attractive products, while maintaining TDK’s high level of reliability and performance.

For electronic device design, it is important to allow necessary signals to pass while to block unwanted signals (noise). Some pattern designs of a printed circuit board (PCB) can be influenced by ESD (electrostatic discharge). By visualizing the behavior of ESD intruding into the PCB, we can confirm the effectiveness of ESD countermeasures for the PCB design. In this article, we introduce effective GND pattern designs and the use of ESD protection components to enhance ESD robustness.

Protective measures are essential for ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) to prevent malfunctions or failures in electronic devices. However because these components are mounted directly on the line, selecting inappropriate ESD protective components can affect the signal on the line even under normal conditions. Examples include high-speed communication lines with differential signals, such as those used in automotive communications' CAN (Controller Area Network) and Ethernet. These can exhibit significant impacts, not only deteriorating communication quality but also potentially affecting EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility) performance in the worst cases.

TDK Corporation (TSE:6762) presents two new varistor series in SMD design. The types of both series are available for a wide range of operating voltages from 175 VRMS to 460 VRMS, corresponding to 225 VDC to 615 VDC. While the B72210M* series of surge devices, which are equivalent to S14 leaded disk varistors, offers a surge current capability of 6000 A, the B72214M* series types, which are equivalent to S20 leaded disk varistors, have a high surge current capability of 10,000 A. All types are designed for a high operating temperature of a maximum of +125 °C and extremely damp heat environment (85% relative humidity at +85 °C).

TDK Corporation (TSE:6762) introduces a sample kit (B74999T9999M099) consisting of ten different types of ultra-compact TVS diodes. Five of them belong to the general-purpose GP series, which protects against overvoltage on applications such as smartphones, tablets, notebooks, wearables, and network components; five others belong to the high-speed ULC series, which are tuned for particularly sensitive high-speed interfaces (e.g., USB-C, Thunderbolt, HDMI, Display Port, MIPI, FireWire, DVI, S-ATA, or SWP/NFC). These protection diodes are available in the ultra-compact packages WL-CSP01005 (400 x 200 μm) and WL-CSP0201 (600 x 300 μm).

Find the appropriate overvoltage protection device by circuit type.

Find the optimal varistor and arrestor products for you based on maximum surge currents and maximum capacity circuit voltages.

TDK’s chip varistors are ESD protection components that can solve various needs that are specific to audio lines. We shall now explain the various advantages providing the optimal solutions for the audio lines of smartphones.