Quad XOR gate in a through-hole DIP
The CD74HCT86E packs four independent 2-input XOR (exclusive OR) gates into a single 14-pin DIP package. It belongs to the 74HCT series, which is a high-speed CMOS logic family with TTL-compatible input thresholds.
What the key ratings mean for your BOM
Quiescent current is just 2 µA max — the chip draws negligible power when idle, a useful trait in battery-backed or power-sensitive digital boards where the gate sits unused between operations. Each output can source or sink 4 mA. This is enough to drive one or two standard TTL loads or a low-power LED through a series resistor, but not enough for heavy fan-out to multiple CMOS inputs without a buffer. Propagation delay is 32 ns max at 4.5V with a 50 pF load. That sets the practical toggle rate ceiling — at 5V operation the delay shrinks slightly, but the 32 ns figure is the one to budget for worst-case timing closure in a 5V bus.
The wide temperature grade makes it suitable for avionics, downhole instrumentation, or engine-bay control logic where commercial-range parts would drift outside spec.