I'm working with the MIC4605-2 half-bridge MOSFET gate driver. The chip was originally made by Micrel. Microchip has acquired Micrel and took over their product line, including the MIC4605-2.
There's now 2 datasheets for the same part:
There's some large differences between them regarding voltage on the HS node.
Micrel:
Microchip:
Going from -1V continuous and -5 repetitive transient in the Micrel version to -0.3V continuous and -0.7V repetitive transient for Microchip.
Those differences have serious design implications. How can there be such a big difference for the same part? Which version should be trusted?
Best Answer
You should trust both versions of the datasheet. If you are 100% sure you have the older part, it might have a "Micrel" logo on it, then you should trust the Micrel datasheet.
Since the Microchip datasheet is more restrictive, it should be safe to rely on that datasheet for both parts. So if you do not know which version of the chip you have, use the newer datasheet.
The -1 and -5 V ratings mean that Micrel did something in their design with the ESD protection on the HS pin, allowing it to get a higher rating. The Microchip rating is more "normal" in that sense. My guess is that Microchip decided that the -1 V and -5 V rating is not needed and derated the restrictions on the HS pin. You can rest assured that semiconductor manufacturers are very careful with such changes. They don't want to annoy the customers (other companies) buying this chip to go to the competitor because of changes like this. So you may think it is a big change while in reality and practice it probably is not.