Bourns® Resistive Products
Selecting the Right Resistor for Your Application
Introduction
CR Series
Science and engineering students typically experiment with axial leaded resistors,
learning a color code to identify the resistor value based on the stripes around the resistor
body. In practice, however, axial leaded resistors are overshadowed in board fabrication
by resistors for which the construction, package styles, and materials are targeted for
specific applications.
Bourns offers a wide variety of resistive products that include devices that range from
industry standard size chip resistors to very high frequency (RF) power resistors in order
to meet today’s broad market requirements. There are many advantages to incorporating
Bourns® resistors into today’s designs including custom values, miniature component
size, higher power ratings, and the highest quality materials and construction. Since it
is far more than just the resistor value that drives the decision of which resistor to use
in a circuit design, Bourns is committed to ensuring designers’ needs are met with the
company’s extensive portfolio of resistive products. In this white paper, the various types
of resistors will be briefly explained, and tables are provided as a quick reference for the
available range of resistive products.
CRT/CRL Series
CAT/CAY Series
4816P
CHF9838CNF Series
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Bourns
®
Resistive Products
Selecting the Right Resistor for Your Application
Overview of Resistor Families
CR Series
Regardless of the application, a resistor is essentially a current control, voltage drop product.
Additionally, Bourns® components can be designed to withstand unique application challenges like an
overcurrent pulse for a short duration without significant changes of resistor characteristics. Bourns®
Fixed Resistors can be defined by construction type (thick film, wirewound, etc.), the way they are
processed, (through-hole, surface mount, etc.) the intended use (current sense, high frequency, etc.),
accuracy, size, power or many other ways. Each resistor does two main things: control current and
control a drop in voltage.
Bourns also has a very broad offering of resistor network (Model 4xxx Series), in a wide selection of
industry standard models. Therefore, they can be used with an industry standard footprint for seamless
placement in printed circuit board designs.
Bourns® chip resistors are available in various package sizes, standard values and technologies
which are designed to meet most market requirements including those for specific application and
performance characteristics.
Bourns® CRL series resistors offer total resistance values less than those required by industry standards
providing engineers enhanced circuit design flexibility.
When more precision is desired, Bourns® CRT series provides tight tolerance and high precision over
a wide range of resistance values. These resistors are typically used in current sense applications and
precision circuits, with specific ordering characteristics for size and performance selection.
Table 1
CRT Series Chip Resistors
CRT/CRL Series
CAT/CAY Series
4816P
CHF9838CNF Series
Model
CRT0402
CRT0603
CRT0805
CRT1206
Power
0.063 W
0.1 W
0.125 W
.25 W
Max.
Voltage
25 V
50 V
100 V
150 V
Max.
Overload
50 V
100 V
200 V
300 V
TCR
Options
(PPM/°C)
TR Range
10 Ω - 205 kΩ
Absolute
Tolerance
5, 10, 15, 20, 25
10 Ω - 1 M
2Ω-2M
1Ω - 2.5 M
0.01 % - 1 %
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Bourns
®
Resistive Products
Selecting the Right Resistor for Your Application
Overview of Resistor Families
(Continued)
CR Series
Bourns® resistor networks and chip resistor arrays are available to meet a variety of needs, and the
figures below illustrate possible configurations inside Bourns® resistor networks. CAT/CAY resistor
arrays are offered in isolated and various bussed configurations.
CRT/CRL Series
1
Isolated
CAT/CAY Series
N
1
Bussed
N
N
1
Dual Terminator
N
N
N
4816P
1
Figure 1
1
Available Fixed Resistor configurations
1
CHF9838CNF Series
Bourns offers general purpose resistors with uniform value as well as dual termination
resistors, intended for specialized applications such as gigabit communication networks.
Designs that feature field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) harness the miniaturized
circuitry and superior quality of the high performance Bourns® CAT16 series for low voltage
differential signal (LVDS) interfaces.
Table 2
Chip Resistors
Model
CR
CRL
CAT16PC4F12,
CAT16LV4F12
CAY/CAT
CRT
Package
0201 - 2512
0603 - 2512
2506
0804/1206/1608
0402 - 1206
Description
Standard Chip
Resistor
Current Sense Resistor
LVDS Termination
(Xilinx FPGA)
Resistor Array
Thin Film Chip
Resistor
TCR
200
200 - 600
200
200
5 - 50
Tolerance
1 %, 5 %
1 %, 5 %
5%
1 %, 5 %
0.01 % - 1 %
Resistance
1 - 10 MΩ
0.01 - 9 Ω
Special Values
(Check Website)
10 - 1 MΩ
1 Ω - 2.5 M
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Bourns
®
Resistive Products
Selecting the Right Resistor for Your Application
Overview of Resistor Families
(Continued)
CR Series
Bourns® pulse resistors and current sense resistors are highly specialized for applications such
as motor drives and industrial equipment. The resistor typically has a very small value and
provides a measure of current in critical areas of the circuit. Bourns® pulse resistors are capable of
withstanding surges without a material change in the characteristics of the resistor.
Bourns offers the CRA, CRF, CRM and PWR pulse and current sense resistors in typical package
styles such as through-hole, bent metal and TO-220 configurations. DPAK and D
2
PAK are available
as well.
Bourns® CHF series are high frequency RF power resistors. Specialized for RF applications
and high frequency signals, they are commonly used in GSM, UMTS, and WiMax interfaces
with standard circuits such as isolators, combiners, and duplexers and in television and radio
applications in combiner and divider interfaces. These parts are available in the 9 GHz range with
power ratings up to 1 kW. The Bourns® CHF series is set apart from other high frequency resistors
by its material and construction. High quality copper and solid construction provide superior
characteristics. Bourns® CHF resistors are constructed with a thick film process. Bourns has
decades of successful experience with this process, and a customized resistor can be created if a
specific requirement is not met by a standard part.
CRT/CRL Series
CAT/CAY Series
4816P
CHF9838CNF Series
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Bourns
®
Resistive Products
Selecting the Right Resistor for Your Application
Overview of Resistor Families
(Continued)
CR Series
CRT/CRL Series
Bourns® CHF resistors are provided in a standard surface mount package. These parts can
be either electrically insulated or terminated. Generally, there is one exposed lead while the
other lead is tied to the ground plane or to a heat sink. The substrates used in the surface
mount Bourns® CHF resistors are Aluminum Nitride and Beryllium Oxide. Higher power
parts with flanged packages have substrates of Beryllium Oxide, Alumina, and Aluminum
Nitride. While the substrates help to dissipate heat, operation at higher power levels may
require a heat sink to handle the dissipation. In some designs, the CHF series is bolted to the
heat sink, printed circuit board, or ground plane. The power ratings of Bourns® CHF resistors
make it possible to absorb very high pulses in high power situations.
Table 3
High Frequency Resistors
CAT/CAY Series
Model
CHF2010CNP
CHF1206CNT
CHF2525CNT
CHF3725CNP
Power (W)
10
20
40
40
150
10
60/30/20
150
250
500
800
1000
Frequency
(GHz)
2
3
9
4
3
4
4
4
4
1
1
1
VSWR
1.2
1.25
1.25
1.2
1.1
1.35
1.2
1.2
1.2
1.1
1.2
1.2
Substrate
ALN
ALN
ALN
ALN
ALN
BEO
ALN, AL203, BEO
ALN
ALN, BEO
BEO
BEO
BEO
Resistor Values
(Ohms)
50, 100 +/- 5 %
50 +/- 5 %
50 +/- 5 %
50 +/- 5 %
50 +/- 5 %
50, 100, 200 +/- 5 %
50, 100 +/- 5 %
50, 100 +/- 5 %
50 +/- 5 %
50, 100 +/- 5 %
12.5, 25, 50, 100 +/- 5 %
50 +/- 5 %
4816P
CHF3523CNT
CHF3020CBF
CHF5225xxF
CHF8838CNF
CHF9838CxF
CHF9838CNF Series
CHF12545CBF
CHR190104CBF
CHF190104KBF
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