Electronically Trimmable Capacitor

Maxim (www.maxim-ic.com) have recently introduced an innovative IC the MAX1474 also called a FLECAP (Fine Line Electronically trimmable Capacitor). This device is basically a capacitor that can be electronically adjusted through the range of 6.4 pF to 13.3 pF in steps of 0.22 pF and is supplied as a tiny SC70 outline package. Capacitor adjustment is performed by sending a series of pulses to the DAT input while holding the EN input high. The number of pulses (up to a maximum of 31) are counted and latched into an in internal register on the falling edge of the EN input. At power-up with no pulses sent, the capacitance would be 6.4 pF in a single-ended application or 0.42 pF in a differential application.