Ultra-Compact DAC Packs A Performance Punch

June 7, 2004

The AD5641 NANODAC is the first in a family of very small digital-to-analog converters (DACs) with high-performance features despite their small package size. Available in a compact 2- by 2.2-mm SC-70 package that consumes 70% less pc-board real estate and 80% less power than comparable products, this 14-bit DAC from Analog Devices Inc. features guaranteed monotonic behavior and consumes just 100 µA of current at 5 V. It's also available in 12-, 10-, and 8-bit options.

Key to the device's design is a combination of patented architectural and packaging innovations. ADI combines its "segmented string" architecture, which offers high accuracy in the smallest die area, with its chip-on-lead (COL) die-packaging technology, which minimizes package cavity size.

Other features include 4-bit integral nonlinearity, a 1.8-V CMOS interface, power-on-reset to 0 V with brownout detection, three power-down functions, and a low-power serial interface with three Schmitt-trigger inputs. An on-chip output buffer operates from rail-to-rail. A sync interrupt facility is available as well.

The AD5641 is sampling now. Production quantities start in December. It costs from $0.90 to $4.75 each in 1000-unit quantities, depending on the resolution and accuracy combination chosen.

Analog Devices Inc. www.analog.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.