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Asahi Kasei Microdevices’ (AKM’s) AP4473 integrates an ultra-low-power step-up DC-DC converter and hysteresis comparators for transforming thermal energy into a useable power source for applications such as wireless sensor nodes, wearables, or other portable devices that operate on harvested energy.
The AP4473 intelligently switches between power supply control for an external system and delivery of energy to a storage element while simultaneously protecting both circuits (up to 3.55 V). This is done in such a way that suppresses the current consumption of the device so that the maximum energy can be used in the system rather than for powering the PMIC.
This PMIC starts boosting at just 15 mV input, with an accepted input range up to 0.5 V. When the voltage of the storage element reaches 3.3 V, a supply output is delivered to the circuit until the storage element voltage drops to 2.6 V.
The AP4473 is available in a 20-pin HWQFN package with an operating temperature of -30°C to +85°C. To learn more about this device, please consult this official product brief from AKM.
AKM has also produced a power simulator tool that can be used to estimate the performance of the AP4473 – and AKM’s other energy harvesting PMICs – when used in an application circuit before building a design. If you are designing a product that you intend to run on harvested thermal energy, fill out the form below, and ipXchange will get you connected with AKM for evaluation of this, or any other energy harvesting technology.
Note: This form can also be used to apply to evaluate the IR temperature sensor mentioned in the interview from CES 2024 that ipXchange conducted regarding AKM’s thermal energy harvesting technology. At the time of publication, we were unable to find further information on this technology.