industry news
Subscribe Now

Trinamic’s 3-Phase MOSFET Gate Driver Maximizes Battery Life and Cuts Component Count by Half

Fully integrated TMC6140-LA simplifies design of high-performance brushless DC motor drives and improves efficiency by 30 percent

Hamburg, Germany–August 16, 2021–TRINAMIC Motion Control GmbH & Co. KG, now part of Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. (NASDAQ: MXIM), introduces the fully integrated TMC6140-LA 3-phase MOSFET gate driver that simplifies design and maximizes battery life of brushless direct current (DC) motor drives. The TMC6140-LA 3-phase MOSFET gate driver integrates all three bottom shunt amplifiers to provide a complete motor drive solution with 30-percent improved power efficiency, while simplifying design by reducing component count by half when compared to similar solutions.

The TMC6140-LA is optimized for performance over a wide voltage range, making it well-suited for servo motors, brushless motors and permanent magnet synchronous motors. The three-phase gate driver is equipped with pins to add a charge pump, statically stabilizing the gate voltages of external MOSFETs in three-phase motors with up to 100A of coil current. Offered in a 36-pin quad-flat no-leads (QFN) package, the gate driver is a flexible solution offering 0.5A or 1.0A gate driver current for 5V to 30V DC battery-powered applications, such as power tools where voltages can drop below 10V. Integrated current sense and diagnostics features add functional safety while simplifying design.

Key Advantages

  • Simple Design and Smallest Size: The TMC6140-LA integrates three bottom shunt amplifiers for current sense and diagnostics, as well as a switching regulator, simplifying design and reducing component count by 50 percent compared to similar solutions.
  • Longer Battery Life: For applications at 15V or lower, the switching regulator output can be used to stabilize the power supply, which maintains the output signals to ensure consistent operation over an extended battery life.
  • Enhanced Diagnostics: Integrated shunt amplifiers provide current sensing for status information. An analog programmable short detection and diagnostic output reports status back to the host.

Commentary

  • “The integrated current sense and diagnostics features are key for enabling functional safety without adding complicated circuitry or additional components to any system’s design,” said Michael Randt, founder of Trinamic Motion Control. “This allows engineers to increase efficiency by 30 percent with minimal effort.”

Availability and Pricing

  • The TMC6140-LA is available for $2.68 (1000-up, FOB USA) from Trinamic authorized distributors.
  • The TMC6140-EVAL evaluation board and TMC6140-EVAL-KIT evaluation kit with both bridge and driver evaluation boards are also offered for $66 and $130, respectively.

About TRINAMIC Motion Control

TRINAMIC Motion Control, now part of Maxim Integrated®, makes motion control as easy as 1-2-3. By transforming digital information into precise physical motion, we are making the impossible possible.

Empowering intelligent motion now becomes achievable by combining Maxim Integrated’s analog power process and communications technology with Trinamic’s motion control expertise. Trinamic’s state-of-the-art ICs, modules, mechatronic systems and developer toolkits enable software engineers to accelerate their product’s time to market while providing first-pass success by developing precision drives that enable efficient, smooth and quiet motion.

Leave a Reply

featured blogs
May 6, 2026
Hollywood has struck gold with The Lord of the Rings and Dune'”so which sci-fi and fantasy books should filmmakers tackle next?...

featured paper

Want early design analysis without simulation?

Sponsored by Siemens Digital Industries Software

Traditional verification methods are failing today's complex IC designs, which require a proactive, early-stage analysis approach. A shift-left methodology addresses IP block integration challenges and the limitations of traditional simulation and ERC tools. Insight Analyzer detects hard-to-find leakage issues across power domains, enabling early analysis without full simulation. Identify inefficiencies earlier to reduce rework, improve reliability, and enhance power performance.

Click to read more!

featured chalk talk

Analog Output, Isolated Current, & Voltage Sensing Using Isolation Amplifiers
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Vishay
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Simon Goodwin from Vishay and Amelia Dalton chat about analog output, and isolated current and voltage sensing using isolation amplifiers. Simon and Amelia also explore the fundamental principles of current and voltage sensing and the variety of voltage and current sensing solutions offered by Vishay that can get your next design up and running in no time.
Apr 27, 2026
24,487 views