Allegro MicroSystems Intros A3965 PWM Motor IC
Allegro MicroSystems Inc. (Worcester, MA) announced its new dual, full-bridge, pulse-width modulated (PWM), motor driver IC, the A3965, which incorporates two DMOS H-bridges capable of output currents to ±500mA, and motor supply operating voltages of 6V to 20V. The DMOS output transistors feature a low RDS(on) rating for low-power dissipation. The logic supply input of the A3965 will operate with an input voltage to as low as 2.85V, making the part suitable for the office automation and computer peripherals market, portable consumers, as well as the medical market.
When not driving a motor, a "sleep" mode disables all circuitry and draws less than 1mA supply current from the motor and logic supply. While in a PWM mode, the fixed-frequency "on" pulses of each h-bridge are 180 degrees out of phase to minimize the peak demand required of the motor supply, achieving savings in the size and cost of external power supply components. Industry-standard "phase" and "enable" input terminals are provided for use in controlling the speed and direction of a stepper motor with externally applied PWM control signals.
The A3965 is manufactured using Allegro’s ABCD3 (Allegro, bi-polar, CMOS, DMOS, 3rd-generation) process. The A3965 is supplied in a 24-lead, plastic SOIC with a copper batwing tab (suffix "LB"). The A3965 has a four-week lead time and is priced at $2.08 for quantities of 1,000 pieces.
