I recently published a Design Idea (DI) showing some very simple circuits for PWM programming of standard regulator chips, both linear and switching, “Revisited: Three discretes suffice to interface PWM to switching regulators” ( Ref. 1 ...
An inverter provides power backup for mains-based appliances in the event of a power failure. Most of the inverters available in the market have complicated circuit designs and are not very economical. Some of them produce a square-wave output, ...
Recently (5/21/25), I published a Design Idea (DI) describing a bidirectional current mirror using just two transistors and a diode, “A two-way mirror current mirror that is” ( Ref. 1 ). That circuit works well in some applications, ...
Designing an analog circuit can be a frustrating experience, as noted by Nick Cornford in his Design Idea (DI), “DIY RTD for a DMM” ( Ref. 1 ). With a fortnight’s struggle, I completed the design of 4 mA to 20 mA, two-wire ...
At its invention roughly four decades ago, STM (scanning tunneling microscopy) created a sensation because it was the first technology to make atomic-scale-resolution imaging a routine procedure. An essential requirement for the practical ...
The typical regulator output network Many voltage regulator chips, both linear and switching, use the same basic two-resistor network for output voltage programming. Figure 1 illustrates this feature in a typical switching (buck type) regulator, ...
Semiconductor laser diodes (SLDs) are often packaged with a photodiode. The output current from this photodiode can be monitored to regulate the output power intensity of the laser diode. SLDs, however, are prone to pathological drifts, such as ...
One classic set you’ll see in most гvintage mystery movies is an interrogation room with a “two-way” mirror in one wall. This cool gadget lets the witnesses see the suspects from another room while the suspects can see only ...
A recent Design Idea, “Three discretes suffice to interface PWM to switching regulators”( Reference 1 ), demonstrated one way to use PWM to control the output of a typical switching voltage regulator. There were some discussions in the ...