March 18, 2024

Philips T4046A - TTL Phase-Locked Loop With VCO : weekend die-shot

Philips T4046A / 74HCT4046 has VCO centre frequency of up to 17Mhz and 3 digital phase comparators (XOR, JK, RS). Die size 1963x1656 µm.


February 17, 2024

Motorola MC1210F - quad NOR gate with pulldowns : weekend die-shot

tpd=5ns. Datecode 712. Die size 1393x1396 µm.


February 11, 2024

CSG 5721 - Amiga Buster : weekend die-shot

CSG 5721 2191 40 is a bus arbiter ("Buster") in Commodore Amiga 2000. Thanks for the chip to Frank Wolf / androSID.
Die size 3701x3626 µm.


February 1, 2024

WCH CH32V003 - 0.1$ RISC-V 32-bit microcontroller : weekend die-shot

Nanjing Qinheng Microelectronics (WCH) CH32V003 is a 0.1-0.15$ 32-bit RISC-V microcontroller (16KiB flash, 2KiB SRAM). This specific die was from J4M6 variant in SO-8 package, but it is clear that die is universal as it has way more than 8 pads. There was suspicion that external flash is used similar to GD32, but this is not the case, at least in V003 line. It is now also supported by Arduino platform with open source tools.

Die size 1732x1172 µm. Smallest features visible from top layer are 250nm, but technology node is likely much finer. Comparing to time-proven STM32F100C4T6B die area is 4.39x smaller, so it could be around 90nm.


ADC capacitor bank is metal-only:
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January 30, 2024

National LM200 - early linear voltage regulator : weekend die-shot

Not often we can see useful microchips which are more than 55 years old (datecode 6742). Die size 963x961 µm.
Metal layer is misaligned by ~6-8µm, but looks like it is still functional (scale 0.53µm/px).



Packaged in a beautiful golden package:
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January 1, 2024

PHILIPS TDA8451A - Analog TV CCD delay line : weekend die-shot

TDA8451A replaces ultrasonic delay lines used previously. Analog TV transmitted color and luminance signals in sequence, so one needed to have a delay circuit to get full color image.
Die size 2903x2016 µm.