ULN2003 - 7 Seven Darlington Transistors Array

DIP16-packaged chip containing seven darlington pairs with common emitter. It can be used to drive relays or motors. Used i.a. Relay Shield.

The output of each pair is equipped with suppression diodes to protect the transistors from voltage spikes occuring when inductive load (e.g. a relay coil) is being driven. This simplifies the design, as you don't need to wire up external suppression diodes.