When you think of optical semiconductors, silicon is probably not the first material that springs to mind. The lack of a direct bandgap makes silicon a poor choice for applications such as light emitting diodes (LEDs). However, silicon has a number of useful properties that, in combination with micromachining, can make it a highly effective medium for steering light and processing with it. By Mark Patrick, Mouser Electronics

With its fifth cohort now graduating, the Central Research Laboratory (CRL) has established itself as a hive of entrepreneurial and engineering endeavour. I have attended several of its Demo Day events over the past couple of years, and have been lucky enough to meet some very impressive startups as a result. By Mark Patrick, Mouser Electronics

In stock at distributor Mouser Electronics are the LTM2810 µModule isolators from Analog Devices. Offering up to 7.5kVRMS of isolation, the isolators are suitable for test and measurement equipment, medical equipment, electric vehicle (EV) and hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) systems, industrial applications, and metering systems.

An ultra-low-power Bluetooth Low Energy 5.0 module from Panasonic that enables the transmission of large amounts of data in Internet of Things (IoT), beacon, and mesh network applications is available at Mouser Electronics. The module is based on the Toshiba TC35680 single-chip controller, which provides an Arm Cortex-M0 processor core with Serial Wire Debug (SWD) interface and 128 Kbytes of flash memory.

The mPOWER ultra-micro power connector system from Samtec is in stock at Mouser Electronics. Offering current ratings up to 21A per blade in a 2mm pitch, mPOWER connectors provide an ultra-small, high-power solution with exceptional design flexibility for power-only or power-and-signal applications.

Featuring a bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonator, the LMK05318 network synchronizer clock from Texas Instruments (TI) is in stock at Mouser Electronics. The ultra-low jitter single-channel clock for 400-gigabits-per-second (Gbps) links helps systems transmit more data faster while also providing higher margin for system jitter budgets than similar devices.

The EZ-BT Mesh Evaluation kit from Cypress Semiconductor is in stock at Mouser Electronics. The battery- or USB-powered kit allows designers to evaluate the Bluetooth SIG mesh networking functionality of the CYBT-213043-02 EZ-BT WICED module. The kit contains four evaluation boards that allow engineers to evaluate a mesh network with just one kit.

Combining high performance, wide input voltage, and USB Type-C CC detection, the MAX77860 from Maxim Integrated is ideal for USB Type-C charging for single-cell (1S) lithium-ion or lithium-polymer applications, portable medical equipment, portable industrial equipment, and mobile point-of-sale devices, as well as smartphones and Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

Designing electronic devices is never easy, as engineering professionals know only too well. Meeting the ambitious project goals almost always means making trade-offs of some description, so as to deal with the conflicting objectives of marketing departments and end customers - who inevitably expect significantly more functionality than the previous generation, while occupying much less board real estate. Guest blog written by Mark Patrick, Mous...

Gone are the days when a building was just walls, one or more floors and a roof, with a few doors and windows. Today’s buildings are highly sophisticated living/working spaces that have the ability to monitor and control themselves, and can also communicate with the world around them. Technology is bringing whole new levels of comfort, security and operational efficiency to such premises’ occupants, operators and owners.  Guest ...

The GMOV hybrid overvoltage surge protection components from Bourns is available at Mouser Electronics. GMOV components present a long-life, reliable protection solution that provides a higher level of performance and safety compared to standard metal oxide varistors (MOVs).

One of the first NVMe SSDs on the market with a capacity exceeding 10TB, the 9200 SSDs from Micron offer high capacity, fast speeds, and low latency for high-performance functions such as application and database acceleration, online transaction processing (OLTP), high-frequency trading, and high-performance computing.

The CS43131 and CS43198 high-performance MasterHIFI digital-to-analogue converters (DACs) from Cirrus Logic are now being shipped by Mouser Electronics. Supporting sampling frequencies up to 384kHz, the 32-bit stereo audio DACs deliver exceptional audio quality in a broad range of applications including smartphones, tablets, laptops, powered speakers, digital headphones, portable media players, and home theatre systems.

Customers have processed more than 11 million lines through Mouser Electronics’ comprehensive bill of materials (BOM) management tool FORTE. In 2018 customers completed more than 140,000 BOMs using the tool. FORTE provides a Risk Evaluator feature based on a unique relevancy engine that analyses partial part numbers and descriptions to suggest the best options for customers.  

Offering impressive levels of security, processing efficiency, and functionality, the NXP Semiconductors LPC55S6x microcontrollers feature dual Arm Cortex-M33 cores and Arm TrustZone technology for industrial building automation, Internet of Things (IoT) edge computing, diagnostic equipment, and consumer electronics applications.

The EYSKBNZWB Bluetooth Low Energy module from TAIYO YUDEN is now being shipped by Mouser Electronics. This ultra-compact module designed to help developers easily implement Bluetooth 5 technology into designs. A member of Taiyo Yuden's Bluetooth Low Energy module family, the EYSKBNZWB boasts a small 10.0 × 15.4 × 2.0 mm footprint for space-constrained applications and pairs well with other sensors that require minimal space and power...

The i.MX 8M Mini applications processors from NXP Semiconductors are available at Mouser Electronics. NXP's first embedded multi-core heterogeneous applications processors are built using advanced 14LPC FinFET process technology. The i.MX 8M Mini offers high-performance computing, power efficiency, and embedded security for edge node computing, streaming multimedia, voice assistants, human machine interfaces (HMIs), and machine learning applicati...

A global distribution agreement between Mouser Electronics and Futaba covers a range of Futaba’s display modules, including vacuum fluorescent, organic light-emitting diode (OLED), and liquid crystal displays. The AH Series modules offer a complete display solution in a slim design.

The first magnetic sensors from Infineon Technologies based on tunnel magneto resistance (TMR) technology are in stock at Mouser Electronics. The TLE5501 sensors are ideal for automotive brushless DC (BLDC) motor commutation in devices such as wipers, pumps, and actuators, as well as for steering angle sensing and integration in electric motors.

The AD7380 and AD7381 successive-approximation register (SAR) analogue-to-digital converters (ADCs) from Analog Devices are now being shipped by Mouser Electronics. The pin-compatible 16-bit AD7380 and 14-bit AD7381 ADCs feature throughput rates of 4 megasamples per second (MSPS) and a tiny 3 × 3mm LFCSP package.