Sometimes people stop at the first word they encounter in a
phrase and call it good. I know I did
for a while. The phrase “opto-coupler”
had been stored as ‘opto-something’ in my brain because the only opto-anything I’d
ever worked on was an opto-coupler. So
when VMI came out with an opto-diode,
it took a little while to adjust.
I knew I wasn’t the only one to experience difficulty with
part numbers when several colleagues responded sympathetically as I hopelessly
mixed them up in various internal and external correspondences. To their credit, the Sales department was
very patient with me. Was it an OZ100HG,
or OC100SG? I knew I had the “100” part
right, but that was about it.
For the record, the correct part numbers are OZ100SG, and
OC100HG. Here’s a breakdown of what the
part designators mean -
The OZ100SG is a stand-alone opto-diode. “O” stands for “opto”, “Z” indicates the body
size; “100” stands for 10kV Vrwm, and “SG” indicates Vf, Ir, and Trr, are
identical to the discrete, glass body Z100SG diode.
On the other hand, the OC100HG is an opto-coupler, as
indicated by “OC”. It has a Vrwm of 10kV
as evidenced by the “100”. “HG” stands
for “High Gain”. ![]() |
OZ100SG - 10kV Opto-DIODE |
Another important distinction is package size. The OZ100SG is much smaller since the only
thing in it is a z-body, multi-junction, high voltage diode that has been
specially passivated and is super sensitive to light. The diode is over-molded in an optically
clear compound. The OZ100SG has two
terminals – anode and cathode.
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OC100HG - 10kV Opto-COUPLER |
The OC100HG, on the other hand, contains an opto-diode of
sorts, and two LEDs that serve as an integrated light source. It is much larger than the OZ100SG.
Got all that? No worries if you don't. Just give us a call.
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OZ100SG – 10kV opto-diode
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OC100HG – 10kV high gain opto-coupler
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Z100SG – 10kV high voltage diode