2. Behavioral characteristics

2.1 General

In economic studies of the semiconductor market, reference is often made to current levels in excess of one ampere to separate power components, with the threshold of one hundred amperes authorizing the qualification of "high power". These distinctions have no technical justification: a power component is such because it enables energy to be processed, as opposed to signal-processing components. In this sense, the components of a microconverter delivering a small fraction of a watt to a micromachine deserve to be designated as power components, if they have been specifically designed, optimized and manufactured for this use.

For reasons inherent to the physical mechanisms involved, the switch functions required by power electronics cannot be achieved...