American Power Devices (APD) — legacy MIL-PRF-19500 JAN, JANTX and JANTXV zener and voltage-reference diode sourcing
American Power Devices, Inc. — family-run manufacturer in Lynn, Massachusetts under CAGE Code 50273 — is a legacy MIL-PRF-19500 source. In the 1980s and early 1990s APD was a DESC-approved QPL-19500 supplier of silicon alloy-junction zener voltage regulators and precision voltage-reference diodes at JAN, JANTX and JANTXV levels. Today APD does not appear on the current DLA QML-19500 qualified companies list. Hybrid Electronics sources APD legacy JAN date-coded inventory for defense and aerospace buyers with long-life BOMs.
- Legacy QPLQPL Status
- Lynn, MAHQ & Plant
- 50273CAGE Code
- JAN → JANTXVQuality Levels
- Zener / RefCore Product
- Alloy junctionTechnology
About American Power Devices
American Power Devices, Inc. — abbreviated APD — is a privately held, family-run discrete-semiconductor manufacturer at 69 Bennett Street, Lynn, Massachusetts 01905-3003, in Essex County on Boston’s North Shore. The company is small (LinkedIn lists 1–10 employees) and has been continuously associated with the Flaherty family for at least three decades: the DESC-audit contact of record in the mid-1990s was Paul X. Flaherty, and current chief executive Liz Flaherty has been in the role since September 1991. APD does not publicly disclose a founding year; what is verifiable is that the company was already listed as a qualified source on QPL-19500 by the mid-1980s.
APD’s core competency has always been hermetic silicon alloy-junction diodes, centred on zener voltage regulators and temperature-compensated precision voltage-reference diodes. The broader diode catalogue historically also included military and commercial rectifiers, current-regulator diodes, small-signal and computer switching diodes, four-layer (Shockley) diodes and transient voltage suppressors. All four production functions — design, wafer fabrication, assembly and test — were historically consolidated at Lynn, MA. An early-1990s QPL revision also lists an APD plant at 2001 W. 10th Place, Tempe, Arizona, no longer active.
The alloy-junction process technology APD specialised in is one of the earliest commercial silicon diode processes and remained widely used for hermetic zener and voltage-reference parts long after planar and mesa techniques took over the rest of the discrete industry. Alloy-junction zeners are valued in defence electronics for long-term reference-voltage stability, high-temperature tolerance and intrinsic hardness against neutron and TID effects — which is why APD-branded JAN zener stock still turns up in stockrooms supporting multi-decade military and aerospace programmes.
QPL / QML-19500 status — historic vs current
APD’s presence on QPL-19500 is documented in DLA archival records going back to the late 1970s. Archived revisions QPL-19500-70 (27 June 1978) and QPL-19500-71 (10 October 1978) show APD as one of the smaller specialist diode houses on the list. By the mid-1980s revision QPL-19500-105, APD is listed under CAGE Code 50273 at Lynn, and by the early-1990s QPL-19500-116 at two plants — Lynn, MA plus the Tempe, AZ facility. A NASA NEPP Approved Sources Audit Program (ASAP) snapshot dated November 1994 confirms APD’s DESC status as “DESC QPL-11/94 — Approved” for JANTX and JANTXV on silicon alloy-junction zener and voltage-reference product, with design, wafer fabrication, assembly and test all certified at Lynn.
By the DLA Qualified Products Database snapshot of 31 July 2008, no APD entries remain in the QPD extract, and APD does not appear on the current DLA Land and Maritime real-time QML-19500 qualified companies list. The active QML-19500 suppliers today are EPC Space, International Rectifier HiRel (Infineon), Microsemi Ireland and Lawrence (Microchip), Micross Corpus Christi, Renesas, STMicroelectronics, Semicoa, Semitronics, Sensitron, Solid State Devices, Solitron, TT Electronics/OPTEK, Teledyne Micropac, VPT Components and Voltage Multipliers. APD, Inc. continues to exist as a legal entity, but buyers should plan around APD as a legacy MIL-PRF-19500 source: current first-article JAN production runs through the live QML-19500 list; legacy date-coded APD-branded stock runs through the independent stocking-distributor market.
MIL-PRF-19500 quality levels — what JAN, JANTX, JANTXV and JANS mean
MIL-PRF-19500 is the U.S. Department of Defense performance specification for hermetically-sealed discrete semiconductor devices — diodes, rectifiers, transistors, thyristors, SCRs and TVS devices — administered by DLA Land and Maritime in Columbus, Ohio (successor to DSCC-VQ). The specification defines a stack of ascending product-assurance levels indicated by the prefix on the part number. APD was historically qualified against the first three levels below (JAN, JANTX, JANTXV); the higher JANS and die-level JANHC/JANKC rows are shown for reference.
| Prefix | Level name | What it adds | APD historically qualified? |
|---|---|---|---|
| JAN | Joint Army-Navy | Baseline qualification against the applicable slash sheet; Group A / B / C conformance | Yes (historic) |
| JANTX | JAN with eXtra Testing | Adds 168-hour burn-in and additional 100% electrical screening | Yes (historic) |
| JANTXV | JANTX with Visual inspection | Adds 100% pre-cap internal visual inspection | Yes (historic) |
| JANS | Joint Army-Navy-Space | Adds wafer lot acceptance, Group E conformance and full space screening | No |
| JANHC / JANKC | Chip / die-level | Unencapsulated die screening for downstream hybrid assembly | No (reference only) |
The certification framework has two layers. Historically, DoD operated a per-part Qualified Products List (QPL) model — the framework under which APD was listed on QPL-19500-70 through QPL-19500-116. Beginning in the 1990s, DLA transitioned to a line-level Qualified Manufacturers List (QML) model that certifies the manufacturer’s entire production line. Individual device families are defined by slash sheets such as /127 (1N754A zener), /159 (temperature-compensated precision reference), /411 (fast recovery rectifier) and /516 (TVS). APD’s historic qualification concentrated on the zener and precision-reference slash sheets matching its alloy-junction process; the archived QPL-19500 revisions on the DLA download server are the definitive source for exact slash-sheet coverage per revision.
APD’s historic MIL-PRF-19500 product portfolio
The following device families are all part of APD’s historic MIL-PRF-19500 catalogue as reflected in DLA QPL-19500 archives, the NASA NEPP audit record and the third-party legacy-manufacturer profile maintained by ProcureInc. In line with buyer intent for this page, we list part families rather than individual JAN part numbers — APD-specific part availability is confirmed on quote against date code, package option and lot.
Zener voltage regulators (core product)
Silicon alloy-junction hermetic zener voltage regulators at JAN, JANTX and JANTXV levels — APD’s largest single product family and the anchor of its QPL-19500 qualification. Typical package styles are the classic hermetic axial glass bodies (DO-7, DO-35, DO-41) the JAN zener spec has used for decades. Voltage ranges span from a few volts through the mid-tens of volts, in both low-power (400 mW / 500 mW class) and higher-power (1 W / 1.5 W) axial-lead bodies.
Temperature-compensated precision voltage-reference diodes
Precision voltage-reference diodes — typically the 6.2 V to 6.55 V temperature-compensated (TC) family covered on /159-style slash sheets. These parts pair a zener with a forward-biased junction to cancel opposing temperature coefficients, producing a stable reference over temperature. APD’s alloy-junction process was well suited to this application and the parts saw heavy use in analogue instrumentation, radar receivers and precision power supplies.
Current regulator diodes
Constant-current diodes — two-terminal current regulators built from a JFET-like structure — appear in APD’s broader catalogue, used for LED bias, signal-line clamping and small-signal biasing where a simple hermetic axial device is preferred over an active regulator.
Small-signal and computer switching diodes
Fast-switching silicon signal diodes and computer switching diodes for low-current logic-line and analogue-clamp use, in hermetic axial glass — the general JAN 1N-series switching / clamp heritage that continues to appear on legacy military BOMs today.
Silicon rectifiers, TVS and four-layer diodes
APD’s historic catalogue also lists hermetic axial silicon rectifier diodes in the standard-recovery class; hermetic transient voltage suppressor (TVS) diodes for military avionics and ground-vehicle transient protection (the active MIL-PRF-19500 TVS slash sheet is /516); and four-layer (Shockley) diodes — a niche PNPN switching device used in trigger and pulse-generation circuits historically common in radar timing and specialty power-conversion designs.
Packaging heritage
APD’s package inventory centres on classic hermetic axial-lead glass outlines used by the JAN zener spec family (DO-7, DO-35, DO-41) plus larger axial bodies for 1 W / 1.5 W regulators. These packages remain in continuous production across the MIL-PRF-19500 supplier base, so legacy APD-branded parts stay mechanically interchangeable with current-production equivalents on today’s QML-19500 list.
How Hybrid Electronics sources APD legacy JAN parts
Hybrid Electronics Corporation is a Sanford, Florida-based independent stocking distributor and sourcing agent, founded in 1981 as Knight Electronics. We are not an authorised distributor, agent, licensee or franchised partner of American Power Devices, Inc. Because APD is a legacy JAN source no longer on the live QML-19500 list, the sourcing path for APD-branded parts is fundamentally the obsolete / long-tail JAN market — on behalf of defence and aerospace buyers whose long-life BOMs still specify APD part numbers or CAGE Code 50273.
Obsolete APD-branded JAN inventory
Legacy JAN, JANTX and JANTXV zener and voltage-reference diodes bearing the APD manufacturer mark and CAGE Code 50273 — sourced from OEM excess, contract-manufacturer inventory and long-term storage stocks, with date-coded lot traceability where documentation exists.
Cross-referenced current-production equivalents
Where APD-branded stock is no longer available at the quantity or date code required, we cross-reference to the equivalent JAN part produced by suppliers still on the QML-19500 list — for zeners and voltage references, most commonly Microsemi (Microchip HiRel) at Lawrence, MA or Ireland.
Slash-sheet and BOM sourcing
Have a MIL-PRF-19500 slash-sheet reference and an APD manufacturer mark on the BOM but no settled path to production stock? Send us the BOM line, slash-sheet reference and required quality level; we’ll confirm APD-branded availability and current cross-reference options.
Frequently asked questions
Is American Power Devices still on the MIL-PRF-19500 QPL or QML?
No. APD, CAGE Code 50273, does not appear on the current DLA Land and Maritime QML-19500 qualified companies list. APD was historically qualified on QPL-19500 in the mid-1980s through early 1990s for JAN, JANTX and JANTXV alloy-junction zener regulators and voltage-reference diodes at its Lynn, MA plant. The company is a legacy MIL-PRF-19500 source, not an active QML supplier.
What did APD manufacture on MIL-PRF-19500?
APD’s core JAN product line was hermetic silicon alloy-junction zener voltage regulators and temperature-compensated precision voltage-reference diodes at JAN, JANTX and JANTXV levels. The broader catalogue also included current regulator diodes, small-signal and computer switching diodes, silicon rectifiers, four-layer (Shockley) diodes and transient voltage suppressors.
What is APD’s CAGE code?
CAGE Code 50273, at 69 Bennett Street, Lynn, Massachusetts 01905-3003. Early-1990s QPL revisions also cite a secondary plant at 2001 W. 10th Place, Tempe, Arizona 85281.
Was APD JANS space-level qualified?
No. Public MIL-PRF-19500 records and the NASA NEPP audit snapshot for APD both list JANTX and JANTXV only — not JANS. Buyers requiring true JANS space-level parts should reference current QML-19500 suppliers such as Microsemi (Microchip HiRel) or other active names on the live DLA list.
Does APD still exist as a company?
Yes, as a legal entity. American Power Devices, Inc. maintains a modest distributor-style web presence at americanpowerdevicesco.com and a LinkedIn company page at the same Lynn, MA address (1–10 employees). The company has been continuously associated with the Flaherty family, with Liz Flaherty as chief executive since September 1991. What is not current is APD’s presence on the live DLA QML-19500 qualified companies list.
Can Hybrid Electronics still source APD JAN parts?
Yes — as legacy inventory. Hybrid sources obsolete date-coded APD-branded JAN, JANTX and JANTXV parts from OEM excess, contract-manufacturer inventory and long-term storage stocks, and cross-references to current-production equivalents from suppliers still on the DLA QML-19500 list.
Is Hybrid Electronics an authorised APD distributor?
No. Hybrid Electronics is an independent stocking distributor and sourcing agent. We are not a distributor, reseller, agent, licensee, partner or authorised service provider of American Power Devices, Inc. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Trademark and affiliation notice. All company names, product names, and trademarks referenced on this page are the property of their respective owners. Hybrid Electronics Corporation is an independent stocking distributor and sourcing agent; we are not a distributor, reseller, agent, licensee, partner, or authorized service provider of American Power Devices, Inc. unless expressly stated. Component sourcing is subject to availability and inspection. Hybrid Electronics does not sell counterfeit parts and does not offer repair services. MIL-PRF-19500 and JAN quality-level designations are administered by the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency (DLA).