The relay is operated with a low current draw, resulting in longer battery life for the equipment. It enables continuous operation for measuring equipment, probe boards [2], wearable devices, safety equipment, and medical measuring equipment.
Due to increased semiconductor density and greater on-chip integration, chips are being manufactured with significantly more pins. Since a relay is needed to measure current and voltage on each pin, the demand has grown to keep IC testers, probe boards, and other measurement equipment small. Meanwhile, minimizing current consumption is also essential to extend battery life in devices such as wearables, security equipment, and medical equipment that contain numerous relays. Panasonic has successfully created the industry's smallest (1.8 × 1.95 × 0.8 mm) CC-type "PhotoMOS" device, which also boasts low current consumption (0.2 mA).
The CC-type PhotoMOS series will begin shipping in May 2015.
