Profile of a MOSFET array for always-on power operations

Article By : Majeed Ahmad

The MOSFET array offers precise temperature tracking characteristics to automatically adjust to changing temperatures for stable, uninterrupted operation.

A new MOSFET array has been unveiled for applications that mandate extremely low power and facilitate mostly-on operation. The p-channel EPAD array from Advanced Linear Devices (ALD) does that with MOSFETs that simplify bias circuitry while optimizing power usage. The MOSFET array also offers precise temperature tracking characteristics that automatically adjust to changing temperatures to ensure stable, uninterrupted operation.

While a temperature tracked and matched MOSFET is critical for precision operations, ALD president and founder Robert Chao noted that designers also need to ensure that the precision is held stable with time and temperature.

Source: Advanced Linear Devices (ALD)

The targeted markets for this MOSFET array include automotive, energy harvesting, medical, robotics, transportation, and wireless. These applications rely on self-contained power circuits and require very low power operation over long periods. Here, the MOSFET array enables portable devices to run on trickle charge, which is vital for energy harvesting power sources as well as DC/DC converters in electronics equipment.

Examples include differential amplifier input stages, backup power circuits, power failure detectors, sensors in security equipment and portable devices, and high-side and sample-and-hold switches. The MOSFET array also benefits discrete analog switches/multiplexers and many other applications across multiple industry sectors that require an always available backup battery.

The MOSFETs in the array are designed for switching and amplifying applications in the -0.40 V to -8.0 V range with a margin of ±0.20 V to ±4.0 V. These applications mandate low input bias current, low input capacitance, and fast switching speeds. Moreover, the P-channel MOSFET array offers precision-matched gate threshold voltages of -.20 V ± 0.02 V. That, in turn, enhances I/O signal operating ranges, particularly in extremely low operating voltage environments.

The ALD310702A/ALD310702 MOSFET array joins ALD’s EPAD Matched Pair MOSFET family and is available in quad arrays as two separate matched pairs. This P-channel version complements the ALD110802 N-channel high-precision devices already available from ALD.

This article was originally published on Planet Analog.

Majeed Ahmad, Editor-in-Chief of EDN and Planet Analog, has covered the electronics design industry for more than two decades.

 

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