Discrete resistor technologies and potential future advancements

There have been a number of advancements in discrete resistor technologies over recent years and, although there have been numerous reports dealing with these developments individually, there is currently no literature available which provides an overall review of these improvements. This paper aims to present a summary of existing discrete resistor technologies such as wirewound, metal oxide, thick film and thin film. The key performance properties of each group are discussed and some recent improvements to manufacturing techniques and materials are presented, together with potential future developments. Some of the specific areas discussed include; tailoring of wirewound and metal oxide resistor designs and materials for pulse and fusing applications and modifications to thick film resistor patterns and trimming rules to increase power rating and pulse performance. A new low resistivity thin film alloy is then discussed together with methods of improving long term performance using passivation materials. Finally a brief review of alternative substrate materials to improve power handling is given