Chip varistors and TVS diodes are commonly used as over-voltage protection components.
Their structural design and manufacturing methods are completely different, but they offer similar characteristics with regard to protection from static electricity.
They generally can therefore be used interchangeably in a circuit, but there are cases where chip varistors are considered to be not suitable.
For historical reasons, many of the specification items given in catalogs and data sheets are different, which makes it difficult to compare characteristics based solely on these data, unlike in the case of capacitors and other general components.
The aim of this article is to clarify the difference between varistors and diodes and to introduce data that can be used to compare the two.

High-power loads are a major stress factor when fuses and components are switched on, as they cause very high currents to flow. To avoid this, TDK offers ceramic EPCOS inrush current limiters, based on NTC and PTC thermistors – a strong duo when used in combination.

TDK Corporation (TSE:6762) has extended its EPCOS ThermoFuse™ family of fuse protected varistors with the new compact NT14 and NT20 series. The new ThermoFuse components feature a footprint that fits into existing circuit board layouts.

SMD or chip varistors are voltage-dependent resistors based on ceramic multilayer technology. They are widely used to protect electronic circuits in consumer devices and telecom, industrial and automotive applications against transient overvoltages, such as electrostatic discharges (ESD) and surge transients.

Chip varistors have both surge absorption capabilities and noise suppressing effects.
See the adaptive application fields of various components for ESD countermeasures as well as the optimal application fields of TDK’s chip varistors / ceramic transient voltage suppressors, CeraDiodes, and multilayer chip protectors.

TDK’s chip varistors in the AVR series, which are made with our own materials, feature high resistance to repeated surges. Products that substitute Zener diodes in compact devices such as solenoid valves and stepping motors, which are rapidly and frequently turned on and off, are also available.

NTC thermistors are heat-sensitive resistor elements of which resistance values rapidly decrease with rise of temperature. With this property, they are used as temperature protection devices for protecting circuits from overheating as well as temperature sensors.
TDK offers various sizes of both TDK brand and EPCOS brand SMD NTC thermistors by capitalizing on our accumulated material technologies and a multilayer processing technology. This article describes temperature protection device applications for temperature detection and temperature compensation.

Surge arresters are GDT (gas discharge tube) voltage protection devices. TDK offers a strong lineup of products with a variety of surge current capabilities ranging from lightning protection for power lines to lightning protection for signal lines.

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.

This material describes the characteristics of each protection component, as well as the differences between an MLCC and MLV.