15 A per leg with a 30 ns recovery — the switching loss ceiling
The VS-30CTH02STRLHM3 is a dual common-cathode fast recovery diode from Vishay's FRED Pt series, rated for 200 V reverse and 15 A average rectified current per diode. The 30 ns maximum reverse recovery time (trr) sets the switching-loss ceiling in hard-switched topologies — at a 100 kHz switching frequency, the recovery charge is the dominant loss term in the diode, and a 30 ns trr keeps it manageable for a 15 A leg.
AEC-Q101 Grade 0 junction temperature range
For an under-hood DC-DC converter or an engine-bay alternator rectifier that sees a 150°C ambient, the 25°C margin to the 175°C abs-max junction gives headroom for self-heating under full load.
Conduction loss per diode at rated current is 15.75 W — this is the heat that must be removed through the D²PAK tab to the PCB copper or heatsink. Reverse leakage at 200 V is 10 µA, negligible for conduction loss but a useful sanity check for high-temperature operation: leakage doubles roughly every 10°C, so at 150°C junction it will be well above the 25°C figure but still below 1 mA for most automotive loads.
TO-263AB (D²PAK) — surface-mount power tab
The D²PAK (TO-263AB) package is a surface-mount power package with a large exposed copper tab on the bottom. The tab is the cathode for both diodes in the common-cathode configuration — the PCB copper pour under the tab carries the full output current and must be sized for thermal spreading.