February 17, 2019

Fake CD40106B CMOS Hex Schmitt-Triggers Inverters : weekend die-shot

This is Chinese Hex-Schmitt Trigger Inverter chip, marked as if it was made by Texas Instruments, sourced from eBay. Interesting part is that it apparently reuses most masks from CD4049 (hex inverter) we've decapped earlier : transistors needed for Schmitt-input were also present at CD4049, but not connected by different top metal. Somebody did saved few thousands $ here.

Die size 714x849 µm.



Update: Now with metal stripped. it's a metal-gate CMOS, so no gates survived:
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February 1, 2019

PIC/Atmel ATtiny4 : weekend die-shot

PIC/Atmel ATTiny4 - one of the smallest AVR microcontrollers, with 4KiB Flash, 256B EEPROM, 256B SRAM and just 6 pins.
Die size 1368x926 µm.



Update: After metaization etch:
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December 21, 2018

Holtek HT7133-1 - 30mA LDO : weekend die-shot

Holtek HT7133-1 is a tiny CMOS LDO able to deliver 30mA. 5-bit fuses on the left side is likely for output voltage trim (3% specified Vout tolerance), some of the voltage customization has to be done via masks. Die size 499x490 µm.



Closer look at fuses:
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December 13, 2018

"Luch" quartz wristwatch IC : weekend die-shot

Inside old (199x) Belorussian wristwatch I've found this IC:


After metalization etch:
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October 11, 2018
September 29, 2018

Ti TPS62321 - 3-MHz Step-Down DCDC : weekend die-shot

Texas Instruments TPS62321 is a 3-MHz Step-Down DCDC converter with internal MOSFET and synchronous rectification.
Look at this staggering number of test pads!
Die size 1983x981 µm.