A capacitor-free LDO using a FD Si-MESFET pass transistor

The rapid growth in portable electronics has driven the market for ultra low dropout regulators (LDOs) that are more power efficient and lead to longer battery lifetime. Over the years various topologies based on P- or N-channel pass transistors have been introduced to meet these demands. For each o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lepkowski, W., Wilk, S.J., Kim, S., Bakkaloglu, B., Thornton, T.J.
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Subjects:
Batteries
Charge pumps
Circuit topology
Consumer electronics
Design methodology
Drives
fully-depleted
Low voltage
MESFETs
partially-depleted
Regulators
silicon-on-insulator
silicon-on-saphire
Stability
Threshold voltage
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Summary:The rapid growth in portable electronics has driven the market for ultra low dropout regulators (LDOs) that are more power efficient and lead to longer battery lifetime. Over the years various topologies based on P- or N-channel pass transistors have been introduced to meet these demands. For each of these implementations, the LDO has had a significant disadvantage whether it is stability issues and lower current drive associated with P-channel devices or the need for a charge pump to overcome the threshold voltage drop for enhancement mode N-channel devices. This paper presents a design methodology for an LDO that features a depletion-mode N-MESFET as the pass device that combines the advantages of both P and N devices allowing for ultra low dropout voltage and minimum layout area. The LDO also saves board space and simplifies design by achieving stability across all load and temperature conditions without the need of an output capacitor.
ISSN:1548-3746
1558-3899
DOI:10.1109/MWSCAS.2009.5235924