Most 36 V buck regulators trade standby current for robustness — you get the wide input, you accept the 30–100 µA drain. The AWK6613 breaks that trade. It is a 36 V, 3 A synchronous step-down regulator with an ultralow 5 µA quiescent current, and it offers three switching frequency variants — 400 kHz, 1.4 MHz and 2.1 MHz — which makes it one of the few wide-input bucks you can tune for EMI rather than around it.
The short answer
Choose the AWK6613 when your rail is battery-connected or always-on, your input can spike toward 36 V, and you need 2–3 A with the lowest possible standby drain. Automotive cockpit nodes and battery-powered industrial systems are the two applications the datasheet names first.
Verified key parameters
From the AWK6612/AWK6613 Rev 1.2 datasheet:
| Parameter | Value | Condition / Note |
|---|---|---|
| Input voltage | 3.0 – 36 V | Recommended operating range |
| Output current | 2 A / 3 A (variant-dependent) | Integrated MOSFETs |
| Switching frequency | 400 kHz / 1.4 MHz / 2.1 MHz | Order-code selectable |
| Quiescent current | 5 µA typ | 12 V in to 3.3 V out |
| Reference accuracy | ±1.5% over −40 to +125 °C | 1.0 V reference |
| Peak efficiency | >93% | 12 V in to 5 V out |
| Minimum on-time | 35 ns typ | |
| Protection | Cycle-by-cycle limit, hiccup, thermal shutdown | Auto-recovery |
| Package | ESOP8L | |
| Applications named | Automotive cockpit, ADAS, power tools, drones, GPS trackers, industrial and medical |
Why the 5 µA number is the headline
Consider an always-on cockpit node — say, a camera cleaning module or an occupancy sensor — that spends 23 hours a day in standby and one hour active. At 30 µA standby, the regulator burns 0.72 mAh per day just being awake. At 5 µA it burns 0.12 mAh. Multiply across a vehicle's dozens of always-on nodes, and the difference between 30 µA and 5 µA quiescent parts becomes a visible line item in the vehicle's sleep current budget — the one that gets audited when a fleet returns flat batteries.
The same math applies to a battery-powered GPS tracker or a metering node: every microamp of regulator standby current is drawn 24/7 for the product's entire life.
Three frequency variants solve EMI planning
EMI is where buck regulator selection usually gets stuck. The AWK6613 family offers:
- 400 kHz — the efficiency-friendly default, good for battery-operated industrial systems
- 1.4 MHz — above the AM broadcast band, the classic choice for automotive rails where AM interference is a certification concern
- 2.1 MHz — clear of the common EMI test bands entirely, letting filter design shrink
Because the frequency is fixed per order code rather than programmable per board, your EMC lab result is stable across production — no stray potentiometer behaviour, no firmware touch.
35 ns minimum on-time
One notch better than the family's 40 ns parts. At 1.4 MHz or 2.1 MHz switching, a 12 V-to-1.8 V conversion is only feasible because the on-time floor is this low. For cockpit SoC core rails stepping from a high battery rail to low-voltage logic, that margin is what keeps the design in clean continuous conduction.
The AWK6613 in the AWK family
| AWK6942 | AWK6943 | AWK6613 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input | 36 V | 36 V | 36 V |
| Output current | 2 A | 3 A | 2–3 A |
| Quiescent current | 30 µA | 30 µA | 5 µA |
| Frequency | 410 kHz | 410 kHz | 400 kHz / 1.4 / 2.1 MHz |
| Min on-time | 40 ns | 40 ns | 35 ns |
| Package | TSOT23-8 | QFN-8 | ESOP8L |
| AEC-Q100 | No | Yes | Yes (automotive-named) |
Family logic: 2 A and small → AWK6942. 3 A automotive general → AWK6943. Lowest standby plus frequency choice → AWK6613.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between AWK6612 and AWK6613?
They share the Rev 1.2 datasheet; the suffix denotes the output current variant and frequency grade in the ordering code. Send us your target output current and frequency band and we will confirm the exact order code.
Is 5 µA the shutdown current or the operating current?
It is the operating (non-switching) quiescent current measured from a 12 V input converting to 3.3 V. Shutdown current is lower still. This is the figure that matters for always-on rails.
Can I use it for a 24 V industrial input?
Yes. The 3.0–36 V input range covers 24 V industrial rails with headroom for transients, and the internal protection handles overload and short-circuit conditions without external supervision.
Which frequency variant should I pick?
400 kHz for efficiency-critical battery systems; 1.4 MHz for automotive rails with AM-band concerns; 2.1 MHz for the smallest filter and the widest EMI margin. If you tell us the certification environment, we will recommend the variant.
Sourcing note
The AWK6613 family is stocked through Mandu with the Rev 1.2 datasheet and application support. Send your rail requirements and volume for a same-week quotation.