Date: 20/10/2006

ST's ballast IC for fluorescent lamps to boost light output.

The newly released L6585 fluorescent lamp IC from ST Microelectronics integrates Power Factor Corrector (PFC), half-bridge controller, and required drivers and logic circuits. ST says due to these built in functions it generates more light at low power consumption.

The preheating and ignition duration, and half bridge switching frequencies can be independently programmable as per the requirement of different lamp types.
End Of Life (EOL) detection can be enabled either in "lamp to ground" and "block capacitor to ground" configurations.

The highlighted protection features are,
Protection against over current by avoiding capacitive mode in half bridge section.

Detect over-voltage and feedback disconnection on PFC and disable the IC to avoid damage to the ballast.

Package: SO20
Availability: Sampling now, production volumes in Jan 2007.
Price: $1.4each ( in 10K order quantity).