ON Semiconductor's Breakthrough ESD Protection Technology Achieves Ultra-Low Capacitance with the Industry's Lowest Clamping Voltage


New ESD9L ESD protection device for high-speed data lines in portable applications offers low 0.5 pF capacitance and industry-leading clamping voltage in space-saving SOD-923 package

PHOENIX, Ariz. - Oct. 11, 2007 - ON Semiconductor (Nasdaq: ONNN), a global leader in power management and circuit protection semiconductor solutions, has introduced the first member of its new, ultra-low capacitance, Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) protection family of devices. The new ESD9L is a single line ESD protection device that offers 0.5 pico farad (pF) capacitance and industry-leading low clamping voltage. Available in the industry's smallest package for ESD protection, this part is ideal for safeguarding high speed data lines in portable applications such as cell phones, MP3 players, PDAs and digital cameras.

New generations of portable products are increasingly sensitive to damage from ESD voltage as newer integrated circuit (IC) technologies employ smaller geometries and lower working voltages. At the same time, portable electronics systems are requiring lower capacitance in order to maintain the signal integrity of their high speed data line applications.

Traditional off-chip protection solutions based on silicon TVS diodes offer low ESD clamping voltage and fast response time, but their high capacitance limits their use in high speed applications. Competing off-chip protection technologies such as polymer and ceramic-based varistors offer low capacitance, but their high ESD clamping voltage limits their ability to protect the most sensitive ICs from ESD damage.

"Designers of portable equipment are challenged to find an off-chip ESD protection solution that combines low capacitance and low ESD clamping voltage in a package small enough to fit in today's ever-shrinking portable electronic applications," said Lon Robinson, ON Semiconductor technical marketing manager for ESD protection products. "ON Semiconductor has answered this challenge with the new ESD9L family of ESD protection diodes for high speed data lines."

Breakthrough ESD Technology
In order to overcome the limitations of traditional silicon TVS diodes, ON Semiconductor has employed a breakthrough process technology to integrate ultra-low capacitance pin diodes with high power TVS diodes into a monolithic die that can be used as a high performance off chip ESD protection solution. This new integrated ESD protection technology platform preserves the excellent clamping and low leakage performance of traditional silicon TVS diode technology while reducing the capacitance from 50 pF to 0.5 pF. The total capacitance of 0.5 pF makes the ESD9L suitable for high-speed applications such as USB2.0 high speed (480 Mb/s) and HDMI (1.65 Gb/s). The ESD9L clamps an input ESD waveform of 15 kilovolts (kV) per the IEC61000-4-2 standard, to less than 7 volts (V) in a matter of nanoseconds. This leads the industry in clamping voltage performance and ensures protection for the most sensitive integrated circuits.

ON Semiconductor's integrated ESD protection platform uses proprietary design techniques to enhance clamping performance while maintaining a small die size enabling it to fit in a SOD-923 package measuring a mere 1.0 mm x 0.6 mm x 0.4 mm. This ultra-small single line ESD protection package gives designers ultimate flexibility in size. This coupled with leading-edge capacitance and clamping voltage performance makes this device the premier solution for high-speed applications in space constrained products such as cell phones, MP3 players, PDAs and digital cameras.

"ON Semiconductor is committed to solving the increasingly complex ESD protection problems faced by our customers," said Mamoon Rashid, ON Semiconductor vice president and general manager of the Discrete Products Division. "The new ESD9L device is the debut product of what will be a complete family of ESD protection solutions developed with our proprietary technology. Additional circuit protection solutions will be introduced that target the various challenges facing today's digital consumer product designers. "

The ESD9L5.0ST5G is available in a SOD-923 package and is priced at $0.15 per unit in 10,000 unit quantities.

For additional technical information, visit www.onsemi.com or contact Lon Robinson at lon.robinson@onsemi.com.

About ON Semiconductor
With its global logistics network and strong portfolio of power semiconductor devices, ON Semiconductor (Nasdaq: ONNN) is a preferred supplier of power solutions to engineers, purchasing professionals, distributors and contract manufacturers in the power supply, computer, consumer, portable/wireless, automotive and industrial markets. For more information, please visit ON Semiconductor's website at www.onsemi.com.

ON Semiconductor and the ON Semiconductor logo are registered trademarks of Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC. All other brand and product names appearing in this document are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders. Although the company references its Web site in this news release, such information on the Web site is not to be incorporated herein.

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