Circuits & Schematics - 10

This design for a photonic switch needs more than approximately 70 V at the cathode of a duo-lateral optical position-sensing device. This voltage gets speedy response at longer wavelengths, such as 980 nm. The circuit uses fast transimpedance ...

In developing electronic systems, designers look for products or ideas that may benefit from the better performance, smaller size, lower cost, and improved reliability that an IC can offer. Toward that end, the digital potentiometer emerged as an ...

A previous Design Idea [ 1 ] outlined a relatively simple circuit in which a momentary pushbutton could be made to function like a latching, mechanical switch. The article generated a good deal of reader feedback. Amongst other comments, readers ...

Capacitor type charge pumps are a well-known, simple, efficient, cost-effective (and therefore popular!) method for inverting and multiplying voltage supply rails. Perhaps less well known, however, is that they also work just as well for dividing ...

The Power Integrations TOPSwitch family of integrated flyback-regulator ICs provides exceptional performance in small, low-pin-count packages. For the lowest-pin-count packages, the multifunction, or M, pin serves multiple purposes, including ...

At the end of the DI for a Simple log-scale audio meter (Ref. 1), I promised to show how to upgrade it to work better. With these fixes, it now has near-digital performance, with faster response and smoother operation. Even this supersized version ...

As the latest generation of new LEDs achieves higher levels of power and efficiency, use of these devices extends to new areas, such as flashlights and vehicular applications. High-power LEDs are finding use even in ambient lighting, long the sole ...

I recently purchased a new oscilloscope for home use. It’s a 250 MHz scope, but I was curious what the actual 3 dB frequency was as most scopes have a bit more upper end margin than their published rating. The signal generators I have either ...

When a design needs auxiliary voltage rails and the associated current loads are modest, capacitor pump voltage multipliers are often the simplest, cheapest, and most efficient way to make them. The simplest of these is the diode pump voltage ...

When analog circuits mix with digital, the former are sometimes dissatisfied with the latter’s usual single supply rail. This creates a need for additional, often negative polarity, voltage sources that are commonly provided by capacitive ...