HY5640

TEC Controller

Subminiature Controller for

Thermoelectric Coolers
The HY5640 is a subminiature temperature controller for

TEC Controllers
thermoelectric coolers (TEC). This device is intended for “heat
or cool” fixed temperature applications where front panel con-
trols and digital readouts are not required. The HY5640 uses
a thermistor bridge to precisely measure and regulate the
temperature of a device affixed to a TEC. With proper heat
sinking, the power stage of this device will deliver up to +/- 2
Amperes of current to a TEC. This controller was designed for
single power suppply operation down to +5V. In addition, the
device can be operated with dual supplies where VS can be as
low as +3V and VDD as low as +5V.
Features:
Maximum ratings:
✦ Proportional/Integral (PI) control
Rating Symbol Value Unit ✦ Small size
Supply Voltage 1 (Voltage on Pin 8) V DD +20 Volts DC ✦ Drive current to +/–2 amps
Supply Voltage 2 (Voltage on Pin 10) VS +12 Volts DC ✦ Operation to 12 volts
Current Sink (Heat and Cool Cycle) Is 2.5 Amperes ✦ Control above/below ambient

Laser Diode Drivers

Maximum Power Dissipation PMAX 6 Watts ✦ Temperature stability of 0.01°C
Operating Temperature (Case) T MAX/MIN 100/–20 °C ✦ Single supply operation
Storage Temperature TSTG –65 to +150 °C ✦ Thru-hole or surface-mount packaging option

Figure 1

Micro-heaters

400 Hot Springs Road, Carson City NV 89706 • (775) 883-0820 • Fax (775) 883-0827 • www.hytek.com • 1
HY5640
TEC Controller

Description of the HY5640 Pin Outs

• Temperature Set Resistor Rs (Pin 1 to Pin 7) • Current Limit Resistors, Rcc & RCH
The temperature set resistor for the HY5640 controls the (Pin 1 to Pin 3, and Pin 1 to Pin 2)
temperature at which the TEC will operate. When the cir- These resistors limit the maximum current that the
cuit has stabilized, the resistance of the thermistor will HY5640 can supply to the TEC when in the cooling
be equal to that of the set resistor Rs. For example, if a cycle and in the heating cycle. Rcc limits the maximum
Dale 10kΩ thermistor is used as the temperature sens- current for the cooling cycle and RCH limits the maxi-
ing device, a set resistor of approximately 56KΩ will set mum current in the heating cycle. This feature prevents
an operating temperature of –10°C. A graph of Rs vs. set damage to the TEC during turn on. It is often desirable
temperature is shown in figure 4 when using a Dale to limit the maximum value of heating current as much
1M1002 thermistor. as 30% less than the maximum cooling current. This is
because TECs are much more efficient heating than
• Thermistor, RT (Pin 6 to Pin 7)
cooling. Figure 5 shows the approximate values for Rcc
The thermistor should be located in close proximity to and RCH required to program a desired turn on current.
the device being temperature controlled by the TEC. It For example, an Rcc value of 17KΩ will limit the maxi-
should be in good thermal contact to avoid stability prob- mum cooling current to 1.5 Amperes and an RCH value
lems. of 13.5KΩ will limit the maximum heating current to 0.5
The HY5640 has been designed for a negative tem- Amperes.
perature coefficient thermistor. A thermistor with a posi-
tive temperature coefficient can also be used if the • VDD (Pin 8 to Pins 11 & 12) +5 < VDD < +20 Volts
position of the temperature set resistor and temperature This input supplies the voltage to the internal circuitry of
sensing resistor are changed. The same result can also the HY5640. The maximum current drain at this terminal
be achieved by reversing the leads of the TEC in which is 5mA.
case Rcc and RCH must be interchanged.
• Vs (Pin 10 to Pins 11 & 12) +3 < Vs < +12 Volts
• Gain Set Resistor, RG (Pin 5 to Pin 6)
This input supplies the voltage to the HY5640 power drive
The ratio of the gain set resistor RG to RL controls the circuitry. The maximum current drain at this terminal
response time of the servo loop. A ratio that is too large should not exceed 2 Amperes. Note that VDD and VS can
can cause slow response and a ratio that is too small be driven with the same power supply in the range of +5V
can cause loop instability. In most applications RG may < VDD = VS <+12V.
not be needed since a 10MΩ resistor is internal to the Ideally VS is no more than 1.5V higher than the VMAX
HY5640 and generally provides enough gain for good op- of the selected TEC. Setting VS higher than this can
eration. cause excessive heating of the controller.
• Loop Stability Network, RL and CL • Thermoelectric Cooler, TEC (Pin 9 to Pin 13)
(Pin 3 to Pin 5) The cooling lead of the TEC should be connected to Pin
The RC time constant of these two components is a first 9 and the heating lead should be connected to Pin 13 of
approximation of the thermal time constant of the servo the HY5640. If the temperature of the thermistor is
loop. The thermal time constant of the combination of the greater than the set temperature at turn on, maximum
device being cooled, the thermistor, and the TEC can be cooling current will flow into Pin 9 and out of Pin 13. Con-
approximated by applying constant power to the TEC versely, maximum heating current will flow into Pin 13
and measuring the length of time it takes to reach 66% and out of Pin 9 if the temperature of the thermistor is
of its final temperature. less than the set temperature at turn on. The maximum
For example, if the thermal time constant was ob- turn on current is limited by Rcc and RCH. Once the TEC
served to be 5 seconds, then a 1µF capacitor and a reaches its set temperature, the current through the TEC
4.7MΩ could be chosen as the loop stabilizing compo- will decrease to exactly the value required to maintain
nents. Typical values for loop compensation components the correct set temperature.
are shown in Table 1.
Note: The values of RG, RL, and CL are generally selected
by experiment. CL should be a low leakage
nonpolarized capacitor.

2 • 400 Hot Springs Road, Carson City NV 89706 • (775) 883-0820 • Fax (775) 883-0827 • www.hytek.com
 HY5640
TEC Controller

Figure 2 illustrates the characteristics of

the HY5640 power drive section. It also
illustrates the unsafe operating area
where the power dissipated in the device
exceeds the maximum 6 Watt rating.
This curve applies for both heating and
cooling operation.

Note that the resistance of the power

drive section is approximately one ohm
when the HY5640 is fully turned on.

Figure 3 illustrates the locus of operating

current and voltage for two different TECs.

Example 1:
A supply voltage of 5 Volts was chosen for
use with the ITI Ferro Tek Model
6300/018/018A TEC. This device is rated for
a maximum current of 1.8 Amperes at a
maximum allowable voltage of 2.7 Volts.
This is a load resistance of approximately
1.5 ohms. The intersection of the 1.5 ohm
load line and the HY5640 current source
characteristics defines the locus of operation
voltage and current for both the HY5640
and the TEC. In this application the current
was limited to 1.8 Amperes when cooling and
to 0.6 Amperes when heating by proper
selection of RCC and RCH.

Example 2:
A supply voltage of 12 Volts was chosen for
the Melcor FC 0.45-66-05 TEC. This device
has a maximum rated voltage of 7.98 Volts
at a current of 0.8 Amperes. A load line for
this device is also shown on the plot. Once
again maximum turn on current is set by
proper selection of RCC and RCH.

Note that the power dissipated in the HY5640

never exceeds the 6 Watt maximum
power dissipation in both of these examples.

400 Hot Springs Road, Carson City NV 89706 • (775) 883-0820 • Fax (775) 883-0827 • www.hytek.com • 3
HY5640
TEC Controller

Figure 4 Figure 5

NOTES:
1. Make certain the heat sink to which
the HY5640 is mounted is flat and
clean, otherwise the ceramic
substrate may break.
2. Use a thermal compound such as
Dow Corning 340 between the
HY5640 and the heat sink for good
thermal conduction.
3. Note that the Pin 1 identifier is shown
in a bottom view. From a top view, Pin
numbers ascend in clockwise
fashion.

Specifications subject to change without

Figure 6 notice.

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