HV859 is a high voltage driver designed for driving Electroluminescent (EL) lamps of up to 5.0 square inches. The input supply voltage range is from 1.8 to 5.0V. The device uses a single inductor and a minimum number of passive components. The nominal regulated output voltage that is applied to the EL lamp is ±105V. The chip can be enabled/disabled by connecting the resistor on RSW-Osc to VDD/ground.

The HV859 has two internal oscillators, a switching MOSFET, and a high voltage EL lamp driver. The frequency for the switching MOSFET is set by an external resistor connected between the RSW-Osc pin and the supply pin VDD. The EL lamp driver frequency is set by an external resistor connected between REL-Osc pin and the VDD pin. An external inductor is connected between the LX and VDD pins or VIN for split supply applications. A 0.003-0.1µF capacitor is connected between CS and ground. The EL lamp is connected between VA and VB.

The switching MOSFET charges the external inductor and discharges it into the capacitor at CS. The voltage at CS will start to increase. Once the voltage at CS reaches a nominal value of 105V, the switching MOSFET is turned OFF to conserve power. The outputs VA and VB are configured as an H bridge and are switching in opposite states to achieve ±105V across the EL lamp.