AMS2911
APPLICATION HINTS
The AMS2911 series of adjustable and fixed regulators are easy
to use and are protected against short circuit and thermal
overloads. Thermal protection circuitry will shut-down the
regulator should the junction temperature exceed 165°C at the
sense point.
Pin compatible with older three terminal adjustable regulators,
these devices offer the advantage of a lower dropout voltage,
more precise reference tolerance and improved reference stability
with temperature.
Stability
The circuit design used in the AMS2911 series requires the use of
an output capacitor as part of the device frequency compensation.
The addition of
150
µF
aluminum electrolytic or a 22µF solid
tantalum on the output will ensure stability for all operating
conditions.
When the adjustment terminal is bypassed with a capacitor to
improve the ripple rejection, the requirement for an output
capacitor increases. The value of 22µF tantalum or
150
µF
aluminum covers all cases of bypassing the adjustment terminal.
Without bypassing the adjustment terminal smaller capacitors can
be used with equally good results.
To ensure good transient response with heavy load current
changes capacitor values on the order of 100µF are used in the
output of many regulators. To further improve stability and
transient response of these devices larger values of output
capacitor can be used.
D1
V
IN
AMS2911
IN
OUT
ADJ
C
ADJ
10µF
V
OUT
R
1
R
2
+
C
OUT
150µF
Figure 1.
Output Voltage
The AMS2911 series develops a 1.25V reference voltage
between the output and the adjust terminal. Placing a resistor
between these two terminals causes a constant current to flow
through R1 and down through R2 to set the overall output
voltage. This current is normally the specified minimum load
current of 10mA. Because I
ADJ
is very small and constant it
represents a small error and it can usually be ignored.
AMS2911
IN
OUT
ADJ
I
ADJ
50µA
V
IN
Protection Diodes
Unlike older regulators, the AMS2911 family does not need any
protection diodes between the adjustment pin and the output and
from the output to the input to prevent over-stressing the die.
Internal resistors are limiting the internal current paths on the
AMS2911 adjustment pin, therefore even with capacitors on the
adjustment pin no protection diode is needed to ensure device
safety under short-circuit conditions.
Diodes between the input and output are not usually needed.
Microsecond surge currents of 50A to 100A can be handled by the
internal diode between the input and output pins of the device. In
normal operations it is difficult to get those values of surge
currents even with the use of large output capacitances. If high
value output capacitors are used, such as 1000µF to 5000µF and
the input pin is instantaneously shorted to ground, damage can
occur. A diode from output to input is recommended, when a
crowbar circuit at the input of the AMS2911 is used (Figure 1).
V
OUT
V
REF
R1
R2
V
OUT
= V
REF
(1+
R2/R1)+I
ADJ
R2
Figure 2. Basic Adjustable Regulator
Load Regulation
True remote load sensing it is not possible to provide, because
the AMS2911 is a three terminal device. The resistance of the
wire connecting the regulator to the load will limit the load
regulation. The data sheet specification for load regulation is
measured at the bottom of the package. Negative side sensing is a
true Kelvin connection, with the bottom of the output divider
returned to the negative side of the load.
The best load regulation is obtained when the top of the resistor
divider R1 is connected directly to the case not to the load. If R1
were connected to the load, the effective resistance between the
regulator and the load would be:
R
P
x ( R2+R1 ) ,
R1
R
P
= Parasitic Line Resistance
Advanced Monolithic Systems, Inc.
6680B Sierra Lane, Dublin, CA 94568 Phone (925) 556-9090 Fax (925) 556-9140
ADMOS [ ADVANCED MONOLITHIC SYSTEMS ]
