Elegant design enables ultra-small high-voltage dc/dc converters

The AG Series dc/dc converters from EMCO High Voltage solve a vexing industry issue about constraining component profiles. PCB-mounted components, whether surface mount or through hole, sit on top of the host PCB, adding to the z-height. EMCO HV solved the height challenge with a novel design: dropping the package down into the board, resulting in a profile of only 0.128-in, compared to competitive solutions as low as 0.4 in. The 1- and 1.5-W converters occupy less than one-tenth a cubic inch and can be mounted using the surface-mount tabs or via swaged PC pins for through-hole applications. Adjustable output voltages range from 100 to 6,000 V. Isolation is ±500-V bias on the output return, input to output leakage current is

The company designed the AG Series converter from the ground up and worked with a leading epoxy supplier to develop a custom formula that exhibits superb wetting ability, high-thermal conductivity, extremely high resistivity, and dielectric withstanding voltage, and meet the UL 94V-0 flammability rating. 

After the custom epoxy formula was specified, EMCO developed custom computer-controlled vacuum encapsulation and curing equipment using micro-shot, low-pressure injection molding under vacuum, resulting in void-free encapsulation and enabling complex package geometries beyond the typical rectangular plastic box. This new capability provides greater design flexibility for further innovations.

As you can imagine the design wasn’t without challenges. In fact, the company had two major design challenges while developing the product.
First, the packaging required the development of a new custom epoxy formula along with new internally developed encapsulation and curing equipment. Second, in order to generate the level of high voltage in this ultra-miniature package, EMCO put to use its 40+ years of high-voltage knowledge using only proven best practices, materials, and components to ensure ultra-high reliability in the field.  

The smaller size allows customers to shrink their products to sizes that allow for portability where it wasn’t possible before, such as in portable detector products and portable medical devices.