Avago Technologies has introduced the 10 MBd HFBR-3810Z fibre optic short link transmitter/receiver for isolating frequency inverter and power converter applications common in renewable energy installations.

According to the supplier, fibre optics technology is now being considered the preferred isolation technology to interface between low voltage control logic or microprocessors and high voltage power inverters and switching circuits.

The pin-to-pin distance of 24.96mm provides transient voltage suppression of 12kV according IEC 60664-1.

The link allows galvanic isolation on one PCB where previously separate transmitter/receiver pairs on two PCBs were linked by plastic optical fiber for isolation. The HFBR-3810Z allows much more compact designs.

The Avago HFBR-3810Z short link transmitter/receiver operates reliably in high noise environments common in high voltage switching and motor control equipment and systems. The DC coupled data link does not require data encoding or digitizing circuitry. The FO receiver has a CMOS/TTL output for easy interface design.