Electrical surge protection using in-package gas discharge system
View Patent ↗The present invention comprises using an electrode ( 107 ) arranged with a small gap or opening ( 108 ) placed in parallel with an electrically sensitive component ( 105 ) and housed with a gas inside an enclosure ( 100 ) to form a discharge gap. Such configurations may protect against low level voltage spikes, but in so doing, do not significantly add input capacitance.
1. An electronic system with an electrical discharge protection device system comprising:
a bond wire forming a spark gap in parallel with an electrically sensitive component;
a hermetically-sealed enclosure housing the electrically sensitive component and the bond wire;
a gas contained within the hermetically-sealed enclosure.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the gas is at a pressure below 1 atmosphere.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein the gas is a mixture of gases.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein the gas is nitrogen.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein the hermetically-sealed enclosure is a JEDEC TO-46 package.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein the electrically sensitive component is a vertical cavity surface emitting laser.
7. The system of claim 1 comprising an electrode connected to the electrically sensitive component wherein the electrode is configured to melt before the bond wire when both are subjected to an electrical surge.
8. The system of claim 1 wherein the spark gap is formed by one selected from the group comprising a gap in the bond wire and a gap between the bond wire and an electrode electrically connected to the electrically sensitive component.
9. An electronic system with an electrical discharge protection device system comprising:
a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) component;
a bond wire forming a spark gap in parallel with the VCSEL component;
a hermetically-sealed enclosure housing the VCSEL component and the bond wire; and
a gas contained within the sealed enclosure.
10. The system of claim 9 wherein the gas is at a pressure below 1 atmosphere.
11. The system of claim 9 wherein the gas is a mixture of gases.
12. The system of claim 9 wherein the gas is nitrogen.
13. The system of claim 9 wherein the hermetically-sealed enclosure is a JEDEC TO-46 package.
14. The system of claim 9 comprising an electrode connected to the electrically sensitive component wherein the electrode is configured to melt before the bond wire when both are subjected to an electrical surge.
15. The system of claim 9 wherein the spark gap is formed by a gap selected from the group comprising a gap in the bond wire and a gap between the bond wire and an electrode electrically connected to the electrically sensitive component.
16. A method of protecting an electrically sensitive component from an electrical surge comprising the steps of:
connecting a bond wire to form a spark gap in parallel with the electrically sensitive component;
placing the bond wire and the electrically sensitive component within a hermetically-sealed enclosure; and
including a gas within the hermetically-sealed enclosure.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein the gas is at a pressure below 1 atmosphere.
18. The method of claim 16 wherein the gas is a mixture of gases.
19. The method of claim 16 wherein the gas is nitrogen.
20. The method of claim 16 wherein the hermetically-sealed enclosure is a JEDEC TO-46 package.
21. The method of claim 16 wherein the electrically sensitive component is a vertical cavity surface emitting laser.
22. The method of claim 16 further comprising the step of connecting an electrode to the electrically sensitive component wherein the electrode is configured to melt before the bond wire when both are subjected to an electrical surge.
23. The method of claim 16 wherein the spark gap is formed by a gap selected from the group comprising a gap in the bond wire and a gap between the bond wire and an electrode electrically connected to the electrically sensitive component.