Atmel� Corporation announced today the availability of 2 new members of its laser diode driver IC family for next-generation DVD/ CD drives. The 4-channel laser driver IC T0820 and the 3-channel laser driver IC T0816 are innovative, cost-effective solutions especially designed for high-speed DVD- and CD-R/RW (Read/ Read and Write) end products. Atmel's objective is to provide various solutions to meet the designers' different needs. Each of the new laser driver family members is dedicated to a specific application requirement.

An earlier-introduced 3-channel laser diode driver IC T0815 is designed for high-speed CD-R/RW (Read/ Read and Write) end products where cost-effective design-in is an issue. The APC (Adaptive Power Amplifier) on the T0815 enables the direct connection of a front-end monitor diode, eliminating the use of an external operation amplifier and thus reducing system cost. The new 3-channel laser driver IC T0816 is functionally identical to the T0815 but has the APC function not on chip for those CD applications where the design requires that the APC is applied externally. The T0816 is Atmel's most cost-effective laser driver IC, its low complexity enables easy and quick design-in.