MAX883C/D (Just because!)

[(*steve*)]

I have absolutely no use for these, but they were cheap and I wanted to look at them.

Introducing the MAX833C/D. It's nothing really special, just a Low quiescent current, low dropout regulator.

They come, 100 at a time in a little box like this:

When you open it, it looks like this:

What are those little things? Closer up they look like this:

Yep, those are just bare chunks of dopey silicon! (check out page 14 of the datasheet for more information).

And here's one a little more close-up:

The little buggers are only a tad more than 2mm on each side.

 

[Irv]

I did check the datasheet, and they look useful. Now, if you invest a couple hundred thousand in a robot that can handle and solder those things....

 

[(*steve*)]

robot that can handle and solder those things

No soldering for these. You need to use wire bonding techniques.

 

[BobK]

I guess that is the kind of thing people put under the black rounded blobs on PCBs.

Bob

 

[kellys_eye]

I guess that is the kind of thing people put under the black rounded blobs on PCBs.

Bob

.... or 'COB' as it is known (chip on board).

I'm getting too long in the tooth for some of the modern IC packages. I've hand soldered 48-pin chips with a 0.5mm pin pitch (successfully and rather to my surprise too!) but some of the ball-grid array stuff makes me despair. Fortunately, for most of the more common and useful devices that come in such packages, there seem to be pre-made circuit boards with them mounted for you.... phew!

But when you get to the bare silicon....... maybe a university lab might have wire-bonding kit. My own workshop doesn't go to that expense!