Diotec Semiconductor AG

http://www.diotec.com/

Sep 5, 2025

USB Charger Backlight Illumination Driven by Diotec's CL20M35-AQ

Have you ever tried to plug your phone into a car at night and ended up fumbling around? There's a simple solution: USB chargers with backlight illumination. The soft LED glow around the ports makes them easy to locate in the dark and adds a modern design touch to the car’s interior. It enhances both safety and the user experience without causing distraction.

The real engineering challenge lies in efficiently and reliably powering these LEDs in an automotive environment with wide voltage variations. That’s where Diotec's CL20M35-AQ Current Limiting Diode (CLD) comes in.

It delivers a constant 20 mA current, no matter the voltage fluctuation.
Requires no external circuitry for compact, efficient design
Qualified for automotive use (AEC-Q101)

Key specs:

Regulated current: 20 mA
Limiting voltage: 3.0 V
Peak operating voltage: 90 V
Power dissipation: 1 W
Junction temperature: -50°C to +150°C

Sometimes, the smartest engineering solutions are also the simplest! The CL20M35-AQ enables reliable, low-complexity LED driving in automotive USB chargers and beyond.