October 3, 2017
Philips NE5532A : weekend die-shot
Another genuine NE5532A from Philips. You can see it is much more similar to genuine Ti NE5532 than to fake.
October 3, 2017
Ti NE5532 - real vs fake : weekend die-shot
We have spotted yet another real/fake pair of very common microchip. This time it is Ti NE5532. NE5532 is a very fine opamp which will do just fine in 99% of audio applications. I afraid it got at bit of bad fame due to fakes which have quantitatively slower slew rate and sound objectively worse.Genuine Ti NE5532 has die size of 2103x2154µm.
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September 17, 2017
ST TSC1031IDT 70V high-side current sense amplifier : weekend die-shot
STMicroelectronics TSC1031 allows to amplify differential signal with high common-mode voltage (up to 70V) while having low VCC (2.7 to 5.5V) which is very useful for high-side current sensing.Die size 422x437 µm.
July 24, 2017
Ti TLC5540I 8bit 40MSPS semiflash ADC : weekend die-shot
Ti TLC5540I is a CMOS semi-flash 8bit 40MSPS ADC. Die is much smaller than simple 8bit flash ADC.Die size 1699x1801 µm, 1µm minimum half-pitch.
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July 23, 2017
July 8, 2017
Fairchild BCV27 - npn darlington BJT : weekend die-shot
Fairchild BCV27 - is a tiny SOT-23 Darlington npn BJT with hFE of 20'000.Die size 612x611 µm.
July 3, 2017
Ti NE555 - real vs fake : weekend die-shot
It is easy to understand reasons to fake 80$ "audiophile-grade" opamp. But why would someone fake one of the cheapest microchips in the world?With volumes high enough that's still decent money for a small company. It could also be an economic warfare: each fake chip sold means 7 cents less in US GDP and Ti sales.
Genuine Ti NE555D. This one is directly from distributor. You can see several mentions of Texas Instruments on the die.
I really like designs with pads in the middle of the die, it looks so elegant and efficient (when it's not reducing yield).
Die size 1034x762 µm.
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