Who still makes P-type Power Mosfets? (RIP Fairchild)

[len_scanlan]

There have been some discussions lately about Fairchild discontinuing the popular FQA12P20P P-type Mosfet (and others). This got me thinking, who still makes P-type Power Mosfets useful for amplifier output stages? These seem to be getting more of a niche product every day.

(Don't worry about N-type MOSFETs, they're never going away..)

So what I've done is put together a small spreadsheet listing what I consider the most useful DIY parts. The criteria is:

a) Available from major catalog distributors (so far I've only looked at Digikey)
b) Through-Hole or Chassis-Mount only, no SMD types
c) Power rating 100W or higher
d) Voltage rating 150V or higher

I tried to come up with a 'figure of merit' based on Cost and Output Power.
Looking through the datasheets it becomes apparent that the device package limits the useful output power, for example a TO-247 can dissipate more power than a TO-220 even though the same die may be packaged in each.

I was trying to come up with a way of answering the 'do we use 3 x cheap TO-220 devices in parallel or 1 x expensive TO-264 part' questions that come up every now and then.

So the manufacturers on the list are:
Fairchild
International Rectifier (IR)
IXYS
Vishay

The big suprise for me was IXYS. They have literally dozens of high-power P-type mosfets in their catalog, including some very high power parts! Of course the down-side of these monster P-Types is VERY large gate capacitance, the larger parts were up to 12nF vs 1.2nF for the venerable old IRFP9240.

A few years ago I spoke with the owner of GamuT at a HiFi show and we discussed the benefits of using a single output pair in a power amp. Of course there are limitations too, you can only get so much power out of a single pair of output devices.

Please let me know if you can think of any other manufacturers or devices to add. I haven't looked at the Japanese manufacturers other than a single Toshiba part that came up in the YAP amplifier thread (which got me thinking about all this...)

Cheers,

Len.

[Eva]

Why so much interest in using P-channel? They don't match N-channel in any way and more silicon is required but performance is worse. Complementary pairs are an illusion.

[len_scanlan]

The point of this thread is to see what complementary power mosfets are still available to the average DIY-er. The problem is the P-type mosfets which are produced by only a small number of manufacturers. The N-type mosfets are available everywhere.

There are many good designs available on diyaudio which use complementary output stages, so I thought it would be good to do a little market research and see what options we have for building amplifiers with different power ratings

I agree with your comment that there are no 'true' complementary N and P type Mosfets, we just have to find the best match.

-Len

[luvdunhill]

Renesas

http://america.renesas.com/fmwk.jsp?...r_mos_gen_amp/

[zinsula]

Originally Posted by Eva

..........................Complementary pairs are an illusion.

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showp...&postcount=677

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/attac...4&d=1210498432

I'd prefer those parts to any quasi-complementary design using only N-Channels in the output stage.
But that's just me, not being too much concerned about wasting silicone, just drive it with enough current...and not bothering about added 2nd harmonics of not really complementary pairs.
Err, and feedback cures everything anyway

Ciao, Tino

[kavermei]

Over here are 'remakes' of some famous, but discontinued, Toshiba or Hitachi (don't remember) mosfets:

http://askjanfirst.com/dindex.htm?/halbleiter.htm

Those devices were legendary for audio. The VDS/ID curves look just like pentodes. They could be used without global negative feedback.

[jackinnj]

IRF discrete semiconductor devices are now Vishay's Siliconix division. The units are branded with the Siliconix logo.

The Fairchild TO-247 devices have been discontinued, but (as of this writing) the TO-220 devices still seem to be in production.

Exicon lateral mosfets are distributed by Profusion in the UK -- they will ship all over the world.

Sanken has some P and N-channel MOSFETs for audio, although I have not found a source...someone had a query on them in the SS forum.

[len_scanlan]

Thanks everyone for suggestions,

Here's an update with a few more parts from Renesas and Vishay. I'll put in the Exicon parts next.

I've added a couple of columns on the right listing 'best complement' for these parts. My criteria for 'best' was the part which most closely matches Ciss (to match gate drive current in N & P sides), and Package (to match thermal resistance).

This only applies to the vertical mosfets as the lateral types really only have their partner N-type device as complent.

Any other suggestions for distributors who stock these parts? Mouser only seem to stock N-type power mosfets (Ignoring the discontinued Fairchild parts)

regards,

Len.

[soekris]

My favorite is the very new Toshiba 2SK3497/2SJ618 pair, typical Yfs 12 S, very low Crss and (relatively) low price.

I have 100 pairs on order with Digikey, when I get them I'm planning to do detailed measurements against all the other audio Mosfets, already have sets of most of the other ones laying around plus the equipment needed....

Btw, I believe low Crss is more important than matching, you can always add extra capacitance....

Soren

[luvdunhill]

Originally Posted by len_scanlan

Any other suggestions for distributors who stock these parts? Mouser only seem to stock N-type power mosfets (Ignoring the discontinued Fairchild parts)

If you're willing to wait around 12 weeks and buy in bulk (around 1000 pieces), you can get the Renesas parts from any of their distributors listed on their website. In my case, I just got bids from all of the listed companies and chose the cheapest.