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How to Use Optocoupler Normalized Curves

(Appnote 45)
An optocoupler provides insulation safety, electrical
2.0
noise isolation, and signal transfer between its input
Normalized to :
and output. The insulation and noise rejection charac- Ta = 25°C
teristics of the optocoupler are provided by the Ta = 50°C If = 10 mA, Vce =10V
1.5
mechanical package design and insulating materials. Ta = 70°C Ta = 25°C

Normalized CTR
A phototransistor optocoupler provides signal transfer Ta = 100°C
between an isolated input and output via an infrared 1.0
LED and a silicon NPN phototransistor.
When current is forced through the LED diode, infra-
red light is generated that irradiates the photosensi- 0.5
tive base-collector junction of the phototransistor. The
base-collector junction converts the optical energy
into a photocurrent which is amplified by the current 0.0
gain (HFE) of the transistor. .1 1 10 100
17485 IF - LED Current - mA
The gain of the optocoupler is expressed as a Current
Figure 1. Normalized CTR versus IF and Tamb
Transfer Ratio (CTR), which is the ratio of the pho-
totransistor collector current to the LED forward cur- .

rent. The current gain (HFE) of the transistor is 1.0

dependent upon the voltage between its collector and Ta = 25°C Vce(sat) = 0.4V
Ta = 50°C
emitter. Two separate CTRs are often needed to com- 0.8
Ta = 70°C
Normalized CTR

plete the interface design. The first CTR, the non-sat-

Ta = 100°C
urated or linear operation of the transistor, is the most
0.6
common specification of a phototransistor optocou-
pler and has a Vce of 10 V. The second is the satu-
rated or switching CTR of the coupler with a Vce of 0.4
Normalized to:
0.4 V. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the Normalized If = 10 mA. Vce =10V
CTRCE for the linear and switching operation of the Ta = 25 °C
0.2
phototransistor. Figure 1 shows the Normalized Non-
Saturated CTR CE operation of the coupler as a func-
tion of LED current and ambient temperature when 0.0
.1 1 10 100
the transistor is operated in the linear mode. Normal- 17486 IF - LED Current - mA
ized CTRCE(SAT) is illustrated in Figure 2. The satu- Figure 2. Normalized saturated CTR
rated gain is lower with LED drive greater than
10 mA.
The following design example illustrates how normal-
ized curves can be used to calculate the appropriate
load resistors.

www.vishay.com Document Number: 83706

1 Revision 1.3, 24-Nov-03
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Problem 1. Step 2. Select the minimum load resistor using the

Using an IL1 optocoupler in a common emitter ampli- following equation:
fier (Figure 3) determine the worst case load resistor
under the following operation conditions: V CC – V OL
R L ( MIN ) = ------------------------------------------------- (2)
CTRCE ( SAT ) I F
--------------------------------------- – IL
100%
VCC 5 V – 0,4 V
R L ( MIN ) = ------------------------------------------------------
( 0,072 )2 mA
--------------------------------- – 50µ A
IF 100%
RL
RL(MIN) = 48.94 KΩ, select 51 KΩ ± 5 %
HC04 The switching speed of the optocoupler can be
V OL greatly improved through the use of a resistor
17487
between the base and emitter of the output transistor.
This is shown in Figure 5. This resistor assists in dis-
charging the charge stored in the base to emitter and
collector to base junction capacitances. When such a
speed-up technique is used the selection of the col-
lector load resistor and the base-emitter resistor
Figure 3. IL1 to 74HC04 interface requires the determination of the photocurrent and
the HFE of the optocoupler.
Tamb = 70 °C, IF = 2 mA, VOL = 0.4 V, The photocurrent generated by the LED is described
Logic load = 74 HC04 by the CTRCB of the coupler. This relationship is
shown in Equations 3 and 4. Equation 5 shows that
IL1 Characteristics:
CTRCE is the product of the CTRCB and the HFE. The
CTRCE(NON SAT) = 20 % Min. at Tamb = 25 °C, HFE of the transistor is easily determined by evaluat-
IF = 10 mA, VCE =1 0 V ing Equation 4, once the CTRCE(SAT) and CTRCB are
Solution known. The Normalized CTRCB is shown in Figure 6.
Step 1. Determine CTRCE(SAT) using the normaliza- Equations 5, 6, and 7 describe the solution for deter-
tion factor (NFCE(SAT)) found in Figure 2. mining the RBE that will permit reliable operation.
VCC
1.5
SCTRcb-25 Normalized to:
SCTRcb-50 If = 10mA,Ta = 25°C
IF RL
SCTRcb-70 Vcb = 9.3V
Normalized CTRcb

SCTRcb-100
1.0
HC04
I CB VO
17489

0.5

R BE
0.0
.1 1 10 100
17488 If - LED Current - mA

Figure 4. Normalized saturated CTR Figure 5. Optocoupler/logic interface with RBE resistor

CTRCE(SAT) = CTRCE(NON SAT) NFCE(SAT) (1)

CTRCE(SAT) = 20 % * 0.36
CTRCE(SAT) = 7.2 %

Document Number: 83706 www.vishay.com

Revision 1.3, 24-Nov-03 2
 VISHAY
Vishay Semiconductors

base-emitter resistor, given the following operational

1.5 conditions:
SCTRcb-25 Normalized to:
SCTRcb-50 If = 10mA,Ta = 25 C Tamb = 70 °C, IF = 5 mA, VOL = 0.4 V,
SCTRcb-70 Vcb = 9.3V Logic load = 74HC04
Normalized CTRcb

1.0
SCTRcb-100 IL2 Characteristics:
CTRCE = 100 % at Tamb = 25 °C, VCE = 10 V,
IF = 10 mA
CTRCB = 0.24 % at Tamb = 25 °C, VCB = 9.3 V,
0.5 IF = 10 mA
Solution
Step 1. Determine CTRCE(SAT), and CTRCB.
0.0 From Figure 2 the CTRCE(SAT) = 55 %,
.1 1 10 100 [NFCE(SAT) = 0.55]
17490 If - LED Current - mA
Figure 6. Normalized CTRCB versus LED current
From Figure 6 the CTRCB = 0.132 %, [NFCB = 0.55]
Step 2. Determine RL.
I CB From Equation 2 RL = 1.7 KΩ
CT CB = -------
-100% (3) Select RL = 3.3 KΩ
IF
Step 3. Determine RBE, using Equation 9.

CTR CB (4)
I CB = I F -------------------
- ( 100% ) ( 0,55 )
100% 0,65 V --------------------------------------3,3 K Ω
( 0.24% ) ( 0,55 )
R BE = ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (10)
( 5 mA ) ( 100% ) ( 0,55 ) ( 3,3 K Ω )
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ – [ 5 V – 0,4 V ]
100%
CTR CE (SAT ) = CTR CB HFE (SAT ) (5)
RBE = 199 KΩ, select 220 KΩ
CTR CE ( SAT ) Using a 3.3 kΩ collector and a 220 KΩ base-emitter
HFE ( SAT ) = ---------------------------------
- (6) resistor greatly minimize the turn-off propagation
CTR CB
delay time and pulse distortion. The following table
illustrates the effect the RBE has on the circuit perfor-
V be (7) mance.
R BE = ----------------------
-
I CB – I BE
IF = 5 mA, VCC = 5 V
V BE HFE ( SAT ) R L (8)
R BE = -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
RL = 3.3 KΩ RL = 3.3 KΩ
ICB HFE ( SAT ) R L – [ V CC – V CE ( SAT ) ] RBE = ∞ Ω RBE = 220
tdelay 1 µs 2 µs
(9)
trise 4 µs 5 µs
CTRCE NFCE ( SAT ) tstorage 17 µs 10 µs
V BE ----------------------------------------------------- RL
CTR CB NF CB tfall 5 µs 12 µs
R BE = ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IF CTRCE NFCE ( SAT ) R L
- – [ V CC – V CE ( SAT ) ]
------------------------------------------------------------------
tphl 3.5 µs 7 µs
100% tplh 22 µs 12 µs
Pulse Distortion 50 µs 37 % 10 %
Problem 2.
Not only does this circuit offer less pulse distortion,
Using an IL2 optocoupler in the circuit shown in Fig-
but it also improves high temperature switching and
ure 6, determine the value of the collector load and
lower static DC power dissipation and improved com-
mon mode transient rejection.

www.vishay.com Document Number: 83706

3 Revision 1.3, 24-Nov-03