Motorola Semi Components Intros MC33441 EL Driver

Motorola Semiconductor Components Group (Phoenix, AZ) introduced a new Electroluminescent Lamp (EL) Driver integrated circuit that is claimed to significantly lengthen battery life when powering the LCD display in low power portable products. The chip is said to offer substantially lower standby current drain than previously available devices. The new MC33441 dc/ac inverter is designed to consume approximately 50 percent less standby power than similar products on the market and offers the industry's lower quiescent current consumption rate of only 10nA. The device also boosts the low dc input voltage to 140V p-p; the typical ac output voltage for driving EL lamps. It is also equipped with an external enable pin to switch the lamp on and off. The operating input voltage for the EL Driver IC ranges from 1.8V to 3.5 DC. Internally the device consists of an oscillator, a frequency divider, a coil driving circuit and a switched H-bridge network. The H-bridge configuration increases the EL lamp life by maintaining a low bias drive of 2V. According to Motorola, the MC33441 requires fewer passive external components, one inductor and one resistor, to generate the desirable ac output voltage and fine tune the oscillator. The MC33441 EL Driver IC is offered in a TSSOP-8 surface mount package. Samples and production units are currently available with the price suggested at $0.44 each for in quantities of 1,000.