LT1495/LT1496
U
W U U
APPLICATIONS INFORMATION
Start-Up Characteristics
Reverse Battery
TheLT1495/LT1496areprotectedagainstreversebattery
voltages up to 18V. In the event a reverse battery condi-
tionoccurs,thesupplycurrentistypicallylessthan100nA
(inputsgroundedandoutputsopen).Fortypicalsinglesup-
ply applications with ground referred loads and feedback
networks,nootherprecautionsarerequired.Ifthereverse
battery condition results in a negative voltage at either the
input pins or output pin, the current into the pin should be
limited by an external resistor to less than 10mA.
Micropower op amps are sometimes not micropower
during start-up, wreaking havoc on low current supplies.
Intheworstcase,theremaynotbeenoughsupplycurrent
availabletotakethesystemuptonominalvoltages.Figure
1 is a graph of LT1495 supply current vs supply voltage
for the three limit cases of input offset that could occur
during start-up. The circuits are shown in Figure 2. One
circuitcreatesapositiveoffset,forcingtheoutputtocome
up saturated high. Another circuit creates a negative
offset, forcing the output to come up saturated low, while
thelastbringsuptheoutputathalfsupply.Inallcases,the
supply current is well behaved. Supply current is highest
with the output forced high, so if one amplifier is unused,
it is best to force the output low or at half supply.
Inputs
While the LT1495/LT1496 will function normally with its
inputstakenabovethepositivesupply,thecommonmode
range does not extend beyond approximately 300mV be-
low the negative supply at room temperature. The device
will not be damaged if the inputs are taken lower than
300mV below the negative supply as long as the current
out of the pin is limited to less than 10mA. However, the
outputphaseisnotguaranteedandthesupplycurrentwill
increase.
5
4
OUTPUT HIGH
3
2
Output
OUTPUT LOW
1
Thegraph,CapacitiveLoadHandling,showsamplifiersta-
bility with the output biased at half supply. If the output is
to be operated within about 100mV of the positive rail, the
allowable load capacitance is less. With this output volt-
age, theworstcaseoccursatAV =1andlightloads, where
the load capacitance should be less than 500pF with a 5V
supply and less than 100pF with a 30V supply.
OUTPUT V /2
S
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
SUPPLY VOLTAGE (V)
1495 F01
Figure 1. Start-Up Characteristics
V
V
V
S
S
S
Rail-to-Rail Operation
The simplified schematic, Figure 3, details the circuit
design approach of the LT1495/LT1496. The amplifier
topology is a three-stage design consisting of a rail-to-rail
input stage, that continues to operate with the inputs
above the positive rail, a folded cascode second stage that
develops most of the voltage gain, and a rail-to-rail com-
mon emitter stage that provides the current gain.
V /2
+
–
+
–
+
S
–
1495 F02
OUTPUT HIGH
OUTPUT LOW
OUTPUT AT V /2
S
Figure 2. Circuits for Start-Up Characteristics
8