Elantec's Laser Modulation Oscillator IC

Elantec just told the world about four new low power, low noise laser modulation oscillators. These new ICs are targeted at Optical storage drives found in PCs, stand-alone DVD-players, and new DVD-ROM-player game platforms. The EL6202C, EL6203C, EL6204C and EL6205C are the high frequency modulation (HFM) ICs used in DVD-ROM and DVD-Player optical pickup units (OPU) to reduce laser noise and improve read-performance. These devices have a maximum oscillator frequency of 600MHz and a maximum current output of 100mA peak-to-peak. Both the oscillator frequency range and oscillator amplitude range can be independently adjusted using two external chip resistors. Also included is an auto turn-off feature, which is used to power-down the chip. Elantec says The EL6202C and EL6205C reduce the cost of the total system bill of materials and simplify the design the OPU by eliminating two external circuit components. The EL6203C and EL6204C are pin-compatible replacements for the EL6201C. Pricing In quantities of 10,000-units for the EL6202C and EL6203C in the 5-pin SOT23 small outline package is $0.65 each. The price for the EL6204C and the EL6205C in the SOT23 6-pin small outline package is $0.67 each for the same quantity. Samples, evaluation boards, and application notes are available for all products.