90 mOhm Rds(on) — the conduction loss anchor for a 13 A low-side driver
The STMicroelectronics VNL5090S5TR-E is a single-channel, N-channel low-side power driver from the OMNIFET III and VIPower families, designed to switch resistive, inductive, and lamp loads up to 13 A continuous. The headline spec is the 90 mOhm max on-resistance, which at 13 A produces a 1.17 V drop and roughly 15 W of dissipation — that thermal load demands a solid copper pour on the 8-SOIC's exposed pad, not just a narrow trace. The 36 V max load voltage covers 12 V and 24 V rails with margin for load-dump transients, and the 150°C junction rating keeps it alive in under-hood or motor-drive enclosures where ambient can hit 105°C.
Fault protection set — auto-restart, open-load detect, over-temp, over-voltage, current limiting
The VNL5090S5TR-E integrates five fault protections: fixed current limiting, open-load detection, over-temperature shutdown, over-voltage clamp, and auto-restart. The auto-restart feature is notable — after an over-temperature or over-current fault clears, the driver re-enables itself without a host controller intervention, which suits intermittent overloads like a stalled motor or a cold-lamp inrush. Open-load detection flags a disconnected load when the driver is off, useful for diagnostics on remote solenoid or lamp circuits. The over-voltage clamp protects against load-dump spikes on the supply rail, reducing the need for external TVS diodes in many 12 V automotive applications.