Silicon Labs has introduced an isolated current sense amplifier delivering robust isolation and the industry's highest bandwidth and lowest signal delay. Silicon Labs' new Si8920 isolated amplifier provides an ideal current shunt measurement solution for power control systems operating in harsh environments such as industrial motor drives, solar inverters, high-voltage power converters, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and electric/hybrid-electric vehicle (EV/HEV) systems.
Fast, accurate current sensing is essential for all high-power systems and power converters with high-voltage stages. Measuring current on high-voltage rails (up to 1200 V) with a galvanically isolated amplifier provides critical information to the low-voltage controller that improves system response time and efficiency.
The Si8920 isolated amplifier provides a differential, low-voltage input scaled for connection to current shunt resistors, enabling the controller to make precise measurements of current on high-voltage rails while maintaining best-in-class electrical isolation. The Si8920 device's industry-leading signal bandwidth (up to 750 kHz) ensures rapid, precise dc current measurement and accurate representation of the primary signal and harmonics.
The Si8920 isolated amplifier uses Silicon Labs' proven, CMOS-based isolation technology, which meets stringent UL, VDE, CQC and CSA standards, supports up to 5 kV withstand and 1200 V working voltage, and offers a wider operating temperature range, better noise immunity and longer lifetimes than competing isolation technologies. The Si8920 amplifier's exceptionally low 1 µV/°C offset drift ensures stable performance over diverse operating conditions.
The Si8920 isolated amplifier is available in standard SOIC and DIP packages, which are easy to handle with automated assembly systems. Si8920 pricing in 10,000-unit quantities begins at $2.39 (USD). The Si8920ISO-KIT evaluation kit enables developers to connect quickly to a shunt resistor to evaluate Si8920 analog isolation functionality including low-voltage differential input, response times, offset and gain characteristics. Priced at $29 (USD MSRP), the Si8920ISO-KIT evaluation kit is available now from Silicon Labs and authorized distributors.