Breadboards are ideally suited for early-stage circuit evaluations. Attaching surface-mount components directly to them is an interesting task. Soldering a candidate IC to a SMD adapter simplifies the situation. Nexperia provides a wide array of adapters intended to support their logic family portfolio.

The 2.54 mm pin header, commonly used on DIP integrated circuits, has established itself as a classic. It is used not only in breadboards but also in a variety of board-to-wire connectors. The comfortable physical size requires a large amount of space on the printed circuit board. Surface-mount components have a more nimble footprint. However, their leads cannot usually be easily integrated into breadboards.

An Adapter Simplifies Integration

SMD adapters, also known as DIP adapters, consist of a printed circuit board with spacing for DuPont headers. The component is then soldered on top, thereby permitting flexible integration.

Soldering can usually be done by hand if a simple process is followed: first coat only one land of the adapter, then use it to physically solder the IC in place. Once the physical spacing is in order, proceed to tack down another pin as far away as possible. After that, the individual pins can be soldered in using a variety of surface-mount hand-soldering techniques. The procedure can be handled easily after a bit of training. Of course, purchasing a high-quality SMD soldering station such as the i-Con Nano greatly simplifies the task at hand.

Three Sets of Printed Circuit Board Adapters.

Nexperia provides circuit designers with a vast array of logic gates covering both basic and highly advanced digital functions. Logic dictates that these components come in a wide variety of surface-mount housings.

Nexperia approaches this by providing three sets of DIP-to-SMD adapters. Printed circuit board set number one goes by the name NEVB-LOGIC01 and can mate with the following surface mount housings:

› TSSOP14/16

› TSSOP20

› TSSOP24

› DHVQFN14/16

› DHVQFN20

› DHVQFN24

› QFN12

Purchasing SKU NEVB-LOGIC02 yields a PCB which is intended for the following:

› XSON8 p0.5

› XSON8 p0.3

› X2SON8

› X2SON6

› XSON6

› TSSOP6

› VSSOP8

› TSSOP24

Finally, the SKU NEVB-LOGIC03 is dedicated to the following form factors:

› WLCSP8

› WLCSP16

› WLCSP9 (SOT8027)

› WLCSP9 (SOT8057)

Conclusion

Nexperia's NEVB-LOGIC family provides a wide array of high-quality SMD adapters for circuit prototyping. Thanks to the wide availability, designers can confidently construct circuits containing SMD components without worry. The necessary adapters are just one order away.