IN Brief:
- Magnachip has introduced two eighth-generation 12V low-voltage MOSFETs for battery protection circuits.
- The devices deliver Rss(on) below 1mΩ, 48% lower specific on-resistance, and 185% higher current density.
- The launch addresses rising thermal and power-density pressure in compact battery-powered electronics.
Magnachip Semiconductor has launched two eighth-generation 12V low-voltage MOSFETs for battery protection circuits in high-performance mobile devices.
The new BatteryFETs are designed as main switching devices in battery protection circuit modules, where they control charge and discharge current while supporting protection against overcharge and over-discharge conditions. The devices are built for systems requiring ultra-low on-resistance, high current density, and strong thermal behaviour in limited board space.
Magnachip says the devices achieve typical Rss(on) below 1mΩ. Compared with the previous generation, the company reports a 48% reduction in specific on-resistance and a 185% improvement in current density.
One of the new products, the MDWC12D013PERH, delivers more than a 50% improvement in on-resistance compared with Magnachip’s seventh-generation device of the same size, producing a temperature reduction of up to 10°C under identical test conditions.
The parts use Magnachip’s eighth-generation technology with a high-density trench cell structure. One device is already in mass production and is being supplied to a major global smartphone manufacturer. Magnachip also plans to introduce 22V Ultra Low-Ron products within the year, expanding its low-voltage MOSFET portfolio.
Smartphone battery protection is the initial application, but the same power-density pressures extend across compact battery-powered electronics. AI-enabled mobile devices, foldable and rollable form factors, high-rate charging, and increasingly dense PCBs place heavier demands on protection FETs. Lower conduction loss reduces heat, improves charging stability, and eases thermal pressure around the battery management circuit.
Battery protection circuitry has become more demanding as device power requirements have increased. Protection FETs must handle higher currents without consuming excessive board area or generating unacceptable heat. They must also operate reliably through transient conditions, repeated charging cycles, and tight mechanical packaging constraints.
Those constraints are most visible in products where the battery, display, thermal spreaders, antennas, and mechanical structures compete for internal volume. Power components are expected to deliver lower losses inside the same or smaller footprint, because increasing board area is often impossible.
Discrete power devices are being refined around specific system bottlenecks. BatteryFETs, load switches, USB-C power-path devices, high-side switches, and low-voltage MOSFETs are increasingly designed around thermal resistance, package resistance, switching behaviour, and current density rather than treated as interchangeable switches.
In compact electronics, protection devices influence charge time, enclosure temperature, usable battery capacity, and long-term reliability. Magnachip’s eighth-generation BatteryFETs concentrate that work in the low-voltage power path, where milliohms and degrees Celsius can determine whether a high-density battery design remains practical.
