LDO regulators offer stable operation at nanoscale output capacitance

Rohm offers new automotive LDO regulator ICs with stable operation at nanoscale output capacitance. The BD9xxN1 series (BD950N1G-C, BD933N1G-C, BD900N1G-C, BD950N1WG-C, BD933N1WG-C, BD900N1WG-C) is optimised for primary (direct connection to 12V) power supplies in a broad range of applications, including powertrain, ADAS, body, and car infotainment.

In recent years, the digitisation of all types of equipment has been growing the number of electronic components, which in turn has driven the need to lessen the number of capacitors employed for circuit stabilisation to reduce the size and the BOM. This requires power supply ICs in power supply circuits that can accomplish stable operation with small-sized capacitors, but until now, it has been challenging to perform stable operation in applications with output capacitances of 1µF or less.

To satisfy these needs, the company developed the Nano Cap ultra-stable control technology for power supply ICs. Employing this technology allows its designers to develop LDO regulators that provide stable operation even at ultra-small nanoscale output capacitances.

This facilitates the support of output capacitance of 100nF – less than 1/10 of the value of standard products – ensuring stable operation required by applications (output voltage variation within 100mV: condition is 1mA – 50mA/1µs load current variation), even when the input voltage and load current fluctuate.

Also, in addition to common µF-order MLCCs and large capacitance electrolytic capacitors, its new regulators can handle an ultra-wide range of output capacitances down to 1µF or less in the ultra-compact 0603/0402 size (which in the past had not been stable enough to be employed), contributing not just to the miniaturisation of components and boards but also to a decrease of design resources required by supporting a more comprehensive range of capacitor conditions.