Rohm claims smallest CMOS op amp

Rohm Semiconductor has unveiled the ultra-compact TLR377GYZ operational amplifier (op amp) for smartphones and compact IoT devices. The new 1.8-5-V, rail-to-rail CMOS op amp offers low input offset voltage and noise that amplify small signals as needed in high precision sensing, contributing to higher accuracy in sensor circuits, while shrinking the form factor.

(Source: Rohm Semiconductor)

Addressing the continued miniaturization of devices that require smaller components, Rohm’s new op amp balances miniaturization and high accuracy; a combination that has been difficult with conventional op amps, Rohm said. The company attributes the improvements to further evolving its proprietary circuit design, process and packaging technologies.

The op amp is optimized for amplifying signals from sensors such as temperature, pressure and flow rate. It is housed in a wafer level chip scale package (WLCSP) that features a ball pitch of 0.3 mm using original packaging technology. This feature reduces size by approximately 69% over conventional products and 46% over existing compact products, claiming the industry’s smallest CMOS op amp. An IC-mounted conversion board that can replace SSOP6 packages is also offered to address replacement considerations and initial evaluation.

(Source: Rohm Semiconductor)

“Op amps’ input offset voltage and noise generation degrade amplification accuracy and can be suppressed by increasing the size of the built-in transistors, but at the expense of miniaturization,” Rohm said.

For a smaller form factor, Rohm developed proprietary circuits that deliver a maximum offset voltage as low as 1 mV without increasing transistor size. The company’s process technology reduces flicker noise, while ultra-low noise is achieved with an input equivalent noise voltage density of 12 nV/√Hz, optimizing resistive components at the element level. In addition, a shutdown function necessary for mobile devices is already built in to reduce power consumption during standby.

Both the TLR377GYZ and evaluation board are available through online distributors: DigiKey, Farnell and Mouser. Rohm’s high accuracy SPICE model is also available at the Rohm website for verification simulations.