New gas discharge tubes protect against overvoltage transients

Littelfuse introduces their SH series gas discharge tubes (GDTs), the smallest (5mm x 5mm x 4.2mm) squared GDT with a 5kA surge capability and a <0.7pF off-state capacitance value available on the market today. The devices are available now from Digi-Key. The GDT is designed to provide high levels of protection against fast-rising transients caused by lightning disturbances. Its low off-state capacitance is compatible with high bandwidth applications and this capacitance loading value does not vary if the signal voltage across the GDT changes. It is specifically designed for protection of electrical, multimedia, and communication equipment against overvoltage transients. Typical applications for tubes include G.fast, xDSL, 10GbE, and 10/100/1000 Base-T Ethernet port protection for the telecom/datacom market; coaxial cable protection in satellite, CATV equipment, and set top boxes for consumer products; industrial automation interfaces such as Ethernet, RS485, RS232, and others for the industrial market; and AC power line protection in power inverter/variable frequency drives for the renewable energy market.