Microbridge Releases Re-adjustable Resistors for Precision Analog Circuits
Microbridge Technologies, Inc. introduced the MBT-303-A rejustor (re-adjustable resistor), which the company claims is the world’s first passive electronic Temperature Compensation (eTC) divider. The divider is suitable for managing temperature in precise analog circuits, optical systems, sensors, and power supply compensation and calibration across a wide range of military, aerospace, automotive, industrial, medical, and consumer applications.
The first in a family of resistor dividers and networks employing eTC technology, the MBT-303-A is a high accuracy dual 30KΩ divider (two resistors in series) where each resistor can be set to any value between 21K and 30KΩ with an accuracy of 0.01%. According to the company, having two rejustor elements in the same package makes it easier to implement divider networks where resistors must be equally matched.
The MBT-303-A rejustor enables automated, independent adjustment of both resistance and the Temperature Coefficient of Resistance (TCR), which determines how resistance changes as the temperature changes. Control of TCR that is independent of ohmic value enables the MBT-303-A to not only provide one to two orders of magnitude performance improvement for analog designs but also maintain consistency of resistance over an extended temperature range for circuits that require set-on-test calibration and compensation.
According to the company, until now it has not been possible to automate the adjustment process to compensate for temperature-induced drift using only analog components. The eTC-based MBT-303-A, configured using Microbridge’s Rejust-it software, is the first passive device to solve analog problems in the analog domain using devices that are suitable for small volume niche markets to mass produced commercial products.
"This is perhaps the most important improvement to the resistor in more than a century," said Bob Frostholm, Vice President, Marketing and Strategic Alliances at Microbridge. "Automated calibration and temperature compensation in the analog domain has not been possible until now. Analog engineers have been forced to use inadequate solutions in the past because this technology wasn’t available. Rejustors based on eTC technology provide better response to the analog environment, yielding more accurate sensors, power-management devices, opto-electronics, and analog amplifiers."
Available in a 16-lead QFN package or 8-pin SOIC package, the new MBT-303-A passive rejustor is currently sampling and costs $1.67 each in quantities of 1,000.
