BD241, BD241A, BD241B, BD241C
NPN SILICON POWER TRANSISTORS
 
1
JUNE 1973 - REVISED SEPTEMBER 2002
Specifications are subject to change without notice.
Designed for Complementary Use with the
BD242 Series
40 W at 25°C Case Temperature
3 A Continuous Collector Current
5 A Peak Collector Current
Customer-Specified Selections Available
absolute maximum ratings at 25°C case temperature (unless otherwise noted)
NOTES: 1. This value applies for tp 0.3 ms, duty cycle 10%.
2. Derate linearly to 150°C case temperature at the rate of 0.32 W/°C.
3. Derate linearly to 150°C free air temperature at the rate of 16 mW/°C.
4. This rating is based on the capability of the transistor to operate safely in a circuit of: L = 20 mH, IB(on) = 0.4 A, RBE = 100 ,
VBE(off) = 0, RS = 0.1, VCC = 20 V.
RATING SYMBOL VALUE UNIT
Collector-emitter voltage (RBE = 100 )
BD241
BD241A
BD241B
BD241C
VCER
55
70
90
115
V
Collector-emitter voltage (IC = 30 mA)
BD241
BD241A
BD241B
BD241C
VCEO
45
60
80
100
V
Emitter-base voltage VEBO 5V
Continuous collector current IC3A
Peak collector current (see Note 1) ICM 5A
Continuous base current IB1A
Continuous device dissipation at (or below) 25°C case temperature (see Note 2) Ptot 40 W
Continuous device dissipation at (or below) 2C free air temperature (see Note 3) Ptot 2W
Unclamped inductive load energy (see Note 4) ½LIC232 mJ
Operating junction temperature range Tj-65 to +150 °C
Storage temperature range Tstg -65 to +150 °C
Lead temperature 3.2 mm from case for 10 seconds TL250 °C
B
C
E
TO-220 PACKAGE
(TOP VIEW)
Pin 2 is in electrical contact with the mounting base.
MDTRACA
1
2
3
BD241, BD241A, BD241B, BD241C
NPN SILICON POWER TRANSISTORS
2
 
JUNE 1973 - REVISED SEPTEMBER 2002
Specifications are subject to change without notice.
NOTES: 5. These parameters must be measured using pulse techniques, tp = 300 µs, duty cycle 2%.
6. These parameters must be measured using voltage-sensing contacts, separate from the current carrying contacts.
Voltage and current values shown are nominal; exact values vary slightly with transistor parameters.
electrical characteristics at 2C case temperature
PARAMETER TEST CONDITIONS MIN TYP MAX UNIT
V(BR)CEO
Collector-emitter
breakdown voltage IC = 30 mA
(see Note 5)
IB = 0
BD241
BD241A
BD241B
BD241C
45
60
80
100
V
ICES
Collector-emitter
cut-off current
VCE = 55 V
VCE = 70 V
VCE = 90 V
VCE =115 V
VBE =0
VBE =0
VBE =0
VBE =0
BD241
BD241A
BD241B
BD241C
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
mA
ICEO
Collector cut-off
current
VCE = 30 V
VCE = 60 V
IB=0
IB=0
BD241/241A
BD241B/241C
0.3
0.3 mA
IEBO
Emitter cut-off
current VEB = 5 V IC=0 1 mA
hFE
Forward current
transfer ratio
VCE = 4 V
VCE = 4 V
IC= 1A
IC= 3A (see Notes 5 and 6) 25
10
VCE(sat)
Collector-emitter
saturation voltage IB = 0.6 A IC= 3 A (see Notes 5 and 6) 1.2 V
VBE
Base-emitter
voltage VCE = 4 V IC= 3 A (see Notes 5 and 6) 1.8 V
hfe
Small signal forward
current transfer ratio VCE = 10 V IC= 0.5 A f = 1 kHz 20
|hfe|Small signal forward
current transfer ratio VCE = 10 V IC= 0.5 A f = 1 MHz 3
thermal characteristics
PARAMETER MIN TYP MAX UNIT
RθJC Junction to case thermal resistance 3.125 °C/W
RθJA Junction to free air thermal resistance 62.5 °C/W
resistive-load-switching characteristics at 25°C case temperature
PARAMETER TEST CONDITIONS MIN TYP MAX UNIT
ton Tu r n -o n t i m e I C = 1 A
VBE(off) = -3.7 V
IB(on) = 0.1 A
RL = 20
IB(off) = -0.1 A
tp = 20 µs, dc 2%
0.3 µs
toff Turn-off time s
BD241, BD241A, BD241B, BD241C
NPN SILICON POWER TRANSISTORS
3
 
JUNE 1973 - REVISED SEPTEMBER 2002
Specifications are subject to change without notice.
TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Figure 1. Figure 2.
Figure 3.
TYPICAL DC CURRENT GAIN
vs
COLLECTOR CURRENT
IC - Collector Current - A
0·01 1 1·0 10
hFE - DC Current Gain
10
100
1000 TCS631AH
VCE = 4 V
tp = 300 µs, duty cycle < 2%
TC = 25°C
TC = 80°C
COLLECTOR-EMITTER SATURATION VOLTAGE
vs
BASE CURRENT
IB - Base Current - mA
0·1 0 10 100 1000
VCE(sat) - Collector-Emitter Saturation Voltage - V
0·01
0·1
1·0
10 TCS631AB
IC = 100 mA
IC = 300 mA
IC = 1 A
IC = 3 A
BASE-EMITTER VOLTAGE
vs
COLLECTOR CURRENT
IC - Collector Current - A
0·01 0·1 0 10
VBE - Base-Emitter Voltage - V
0·5
0·6
0·7
0·8
0·9
1·0 TCS631AC
VCE = 4 V
TC = 25°C
BD241, BD241A, BD241B, BD241C
NPN SILICON POWER TRANSISTORS
4
 
JUNE 1973 - REVISED SEPTEMBER 2002
Specifications are subject to change without notice.
MAXIMUM SAFE OPERATING REGIONS
Figure 4.
THERMAL INFORMATION
Figure 5.
MAXIMUM FORWARD-BIAS
SAFE OPERATING AREA
VCE - Collector-Emitter Voltage - V
1·0 10 100 1000
IC - Collector Current - A
0·01
0·1
1·0
10
100 SAS631AG
BD241
BD241A
BD241B
BD241C
tp = 300 µs, d = 0.1 = 10%
tp = 1 ms, d = 0.1 = 10%
tp = 10 ms, d = 0.1 = 10%
DC Operation
MAXIMUM POWER DISSIPATION
vs
CASE TEMPERATURE
TC - Case Temperature - °C
0 255075100125150
Ptot - Maximum Power Dissipation - W
0
10
20
30
40
50 TIS631AA