International Rectifier

“The Oldest Power Management Semiconductor Component Manufacturer in the World”

International Rectifier is a major worldwide supplier of power semiconductors that convert electrical energy to operate power supplies, lighting ballasts, and motor drives. Its' patented HEXFET power MOSFET's and IGBT's make IR the world leader in field effect transistors. The Company's technological advances improve the performance and energy efficiency of electronic and electrical equipment in automotive, consumer electronics, computer/peripherals, industrial, lighting, telecom, and government/space applications.

More About International Rectifier

International Rectifier (IR) (Symbol:IRF--NYSE) provides enabling technologies for products that work smarter, run cooler, and raise the world's productivity-per-watt. The world's largest industry is electronics, and over the long term, global demand for power electronics makes IR's role more important and our contribution more valuable. IR is powering the next generation of servers and computers, cars, satellites, and home appliances. We set performance and architecture standards for power electronics across a broad spectrum, and we're lengthening our competitive lead:

• IR technology makes variable-speed operation practical and affordable for everything from conveyor belts to washing machines.
• We allow laptop computers to run longer.
• We're raising the bar for vehicle performance and fuel economy with electronic steering and a host of other advances.

IR is building on a broad platform of competitive advantages:

• We pioneered and hold key patents on technology that created the $3 billion power MOSFET industry.
• We focus completely on power chips and subsystems, and we create proprietary products that add more value to our customers' end products.
• Our high-volume dedicated fab sets the benchmark for cost in our industry.
• We invest aggressively in R&D, and we're generating a flow of highly-differentiated products targeted to high-growth applications.
• IR has the products, capacity, and cost structure to grow and build shareholder value.

International Rectifier is delivering enabling power technology to a host of industries including automotive, consumer, computer/peripheral, industrial, lighting, telecom and government/space. Today, we're the only company in the world to design and manufacture solutions addressing the entire power conversion process that transforms crude electricity into clean, usable power.

These include:

• Input Devices such as diodes, rectifiers and thyristors that convert raw AC line power to appropriate DC levels;
• Control Devices such as switching controllers, linear regulators, MOS Gate Drivers and intelligent power switches to regulate the power conversion process;
• Switching Devices such as power MOSFETs, IGBTs and thyristors that are used to turn electrical loads on and off; and
• Output Devices such as Schottky and fast recovery diodes for regulating the flow of electrical energy into equipment with ratings from a few to several hundred amperes;
• Distribution Devices such as MOSFETs and Microelectronic Relays that distribute electrical energy to the load or electrical appliances of the world;
• Integrated Solutions such as analog ICs, advanced circuit devices, and power systems that optimize overall circuit and end product performance, providing more value in target applications.

IR - Five Decades of Technology Leadership

International Rectifier was founded in Los Angeles in August 1947 to manufacture Selenium rectifiers. IR was one of the first companies to commercialize Germanium rectifiers in 1954, and the first to introduce commercial zener diodes and solar cells in 1958. IR's 50-year legacy of power semiconductor technology "firsts" include:

• The first silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) in 1959
• Development of the first epitaxial process in 1962 for producing the industry's most stable high voltage SCRs.
• One of the first suppliers of hi-reliability devices for space applications
• Introduction of the first power transistors and Darlington transistors to use glass passivation in 1974
• The first hexagonal-celled power MOSFET, trademarked HEXFET® in 1979
• Introduction of one of the world's first intelligent power ICs called the ChipSwitch® in 1983
• First patents issued for power MOSFET and IGBT products in 1983
• Introduced the world's first high voltage power IC in 1983
• The world's first SmartFET in 1993
• The world's first four mask MOSFET manufacturing process in 1996
• The world's first MOSFET and Schottky in a single package or FETKY® product in 1996
• The world's highest density and lowest RDS(on) self-aligned planar and trench MOSFETs in 1999
• FlipFET™ wafer-level packaging for portable applications in 2000
• iPOWIR™ integrated building blocks for DC-DC converters in 2001
• DirectFET™, a packaging technology breakthrough for high performance DC-DC converters in 2002
• iMOTION™ integrated design platform for variable speed motor drive in 2003

Advanced Circuits and Integrated Solutions
IR's latest product introductions provide a higher degree of value to customers seeking to optimize the performance of their power designs while simplifying and shortening their design cycles.

IR's iMOTION™ architecture offers engineers an alternative design platform for high performance digital motor drive design. It promises positive implications for today's low power AC drives, high power industrial AC drives, high performance servo applications as well as emerging aerospace fly-by-wire and automotive drive-by-wire systems.

Multi-chip modules, like the iPOWIR™- intelligent scalable building blocks, simplify power design and boost performance for the latest generation of low-voltage processors in single- and multi-phase topologies. IR's expertise in device matching and "short trace" layout deliver this optimized solution that combines multiple power semiconductors, ICs, and passive components into a single BGA package.