PMOSFET Driver Delivers 1.5 A

July 9, 2001

Designed to drive p-channel MOSFETs at very high speeds, Linear Technology's LTC1693-5 MOSFET driver/buffer IC delivers a 1.5-A peak-to-peak output current. This device is rated with rise and fall times of 17.5 ns at a VCC of 12 V and 1...

Roger Allan

For proper startup and MOSFET protection, the IC contains undervoltage lockout and thermal-shutdown circuits that disable the MOSFET gate drive when activated. The chip accepts a wide input-voltage range of 4.5 to 13.2 V. It's also CMOS-compatible with hysteresis on its input.

Applications include power supplies, high-side drivers, line drivers, and motor/relay control systems. The LTC1693-5 can be used with a switching dc-dc controller to boost gate-drive capability, which allows higher output power. It can level-shift the input logic signal up or down to the rail-to-rail V_CCdrive, enabling the external MOSFET to guarantee full turn-on and turn-off. A V_CC-independent CMOS input threshold with 1.2 V of typical hysteresis is offered as well.

The LTC1693-5 is housed in a small 8-lead MSOP package. Pricing starts at $1.70 each in 1000-piece quantities.

Linear Technology Corp., 1630 McCarthy Blvd., Milpitas, CA 95035-7417; (408) 432-1900; fax (408) 434-6441; www.linear-tech.com.

About the Author

Roger Allan

Roger Allan is an electronics journalism veteran, and served as Electronic Design's Executive Editor for 15 of those years. He has covered just about every technology beat from semiconductors, components, packaging and power devices, to communications, test and measurement, automotive electronics, robotics, medical electronics, military electronics, robotics, and industrial electronics. His specialties include MEMS and nanoelectronics technologies. He is a contributor to the McGraw Hill Annual Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. He is also a Life Senior Member of the IEEE and holds a BSEE from New York University's School of Engineering and Science. Roger has worked for major electronics magazines besides Electronic Design, including the IEEE Spectrum, Electronics, EDN, Electronic Products, and the British New Scientist. He also has working experience in the electronics industry as a design engineer in filters, power supplies and control systems.

After his retirement from Electronic Design Magazine, He has been extensively contributing articles for Penton’s Electronic Design, Power Electronics Technology, Energy Efficiency and Technology (EE&T) and Microwaves RF Magazine, covering all of the aforementioned electronics segments as well as energy efficiency, harvesting and related technologies. He has also contributed articles to other electronics technology magazines worldwide.

He is a “jack of all trades and a master in leading-edge technologies” like MEMS, nanolectronics, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, military electronics, biometrics, implantable medical devices, and energy harvesting and related technologies.