What is TVS Thyristor : Top Manufacturers

A TVS thyristor is a circuit protection component designed to clamp transient voltage surges and overvoltage conditions in electronic systems. It provides robust protection against lightning strikes, power faults, and electrostatic discharge, making it suitable for telecommunications, industrial equipment, networking systems, and consumer electronics.

Transient overvoltages and surges are common in electrical environments due to power switching, EM radiation, electrostatic discharge, lightning, and more. A TVS thyristor is an electronic component designed to protect electronic circuits from overvoltage transients induced on wires. TVS stands for “Transient Voltage Suppression.”

Figure 1 shows common TVS thyristor symbols.

The basic functions of a TVS Thyristor device are:

• Protecting people from hazardous voltages induced by power line contact or lightning.
• Limiting the maximum voltage seen by equipment.
• Diverting high transient currents to the ground, away from the equipment.

The characteristic curve of a TVS Thyristor is shown in Figure 2.

TVS Thyristor Selection Guide

When selecting a TVS Thyristor for a specific application, consider the following specifications:

• Voltage - Breakover
• Voltage - OFF state
• Voltage - ON state
• Current - Peak Pulse (specified for waveforms like 8/20µs and 10/1000µs)
• Current - Hold
• Number of elements
• Mounting Type: Surface Mount/Through Hole
• Packaging type

TVS Thyristor Manufacturers

The following table lists some popular TVS Thyristor manufacturers:

TVS Thyristor Manufacturers
Bourns Inc.
Littlefuse Inc.
Diodes Incorporated
IXYS
Micro Commercial Co.
ST Microelectronics
ON Semiconductor
Microsemi Corporation
PROTEK DEVICES
Socay Electronics Corp., Ltd.

Summary

A TVS thyristor protects circuits from transient voltage surges and overvoltage conditions. Leading manufacturers develop TVS thyristors for telecommunications, industrial automation, networking, and electronic protection applications.