The MCP1624 and the MCP1623 voltage boost regulators from Microchip Corporation are ideal for battery-powered applications. Battery-powered products represent a versatile market in consumer, medical, personal care, and entertainment industries. These products have the common need for intelligent control, low power, and maximum battery life. Trends have emphasized the need for minimal size, portability, and reduced weight, whether it is an electric shaver, a digital music player, a camera, or a flashlight. The products are shrinking but they are typically limited in size by the need for two or more batteries. Therefore, the ability to operate an MCU with a single battery becomes increasingly valuable to a growing number of applications.

The MCP1624/3 converters meet these design requirements. They are compact, high-efficiency, fixed frequency, synchronous step-up DC/DC converters that provide an easy-to-use power supply solution for applications powered by either one, two, or three-cell alkaline, NiCd, NiMH, one-cell Li-Ion, or Li-Polymer batteries. These converters can be paired with any PIC microcontroller to bring flexible intelligence to any single-cell or low-voltage application. A true load disconnect mode provides input to output isolation while disabled (EN = GND) by removing the normal boost regulator diode path from input to output. This mode consumes less than 1 μA of input current. The MCP1624 operates and consumes only 19 μA while operating at no load in standby applications.