LT3085
13
Rev. C
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APPLICATIONS INFORMATION
The LT3085 uses a unity-gain follower from the SET pin
to drive the output, and there is no requirement to use
a resistor to set the output voltage. Use a high accuracy
voltage reference placed at the SET pin to remove the
errors in output voltage due to reference current tolerance
and resistor tolerance. Active driving of the SET pin is
acceptable; the limitations are the creativity and ingenuity
of the circuit designer.
One problem that a normal linear regulator sees with
reference voltage noise is that noise is gained up along
with the output when using a resistor divider to operate
at levels higher than the normal reference voltage. With
the LT3085, the unity-gain follower presents no gain
whatsoever from the SET pin to the output, so noise fig-
ures do not increase accordingly. Error amplifier noise is
typically 100nV/√Hz (33µVRMS over the 10Hz to 100kHz
bandwidth); this is another factor that is RMS summed
in to give a final noise figure for the regulator.
Curves in the Typical Performance Characteristics show
noise spectral density and peak-to-peak noise character-
istics for both the reference current and error amplifier
over the 10Hz to 100kHz bandwidth.
Overload Recovery
Like many IC power regulators, the LT3085 has safe oper-
ating area (SOA) protection. The SOA protection decreases
current limit as the input-to-output voltage increases and
keeps the power dissipation at safe levels for all values
of input-to-output voltage. The LT3085 provides some
output current at all values of input-to-output voltage up
to the device breakdown. See the Current Limit curve in
the Typical Performance Characteristics.
When power is first turned on, the input voltage rises
and the output follows the input, allowing the regulator
to start into very heavy loads. During start-up, as the
input voltage is rising, the input-to-output voltage dif-
ferential is small, allowing the regulator to supply large
output currents. With a high input voltage, a problem can
occur wherein removal of an output short will not allow
the output voltage to recover. Other regulators, such as
the LT1085 and LT1764A, also exhibit this phenomenon
so it is not unique to the LT3085.
matching between the devices is within 2°C, showing
excellent tracking between the devices. The board tem-
perature has reached approximately 40°C within about
0.75 inches of each device.
While 90°C is an acceptable operating temperature for
these devices, this is in 25°C ambient. For higher ambi-
ents, the temperature must be controlled to prevent
device temperature from exceeding 125°C. A 3-meter-
per-second airflow across the devices will decrease the
device temperature about 20°C providing a margin for
higher operating ambient temperatures.
Both at low power and relatively high power levels devices
can be paralleled for higher output current. Current
sharing and thermal sharing is excellent, showing that
acceptable operation can be had while keeping the peak
temperatures below excessive operating temperatures on
a board. This technique allows higher operating current
linear regulation to be used in systems where it could
never be used before.
Quieting the Noise
The LT3085 offers numerous advantages when it comes
to dealing with noise. There are several sources of noise
in a linear regulator. The most critical noise source for any
LDO is the reference; from there, the noise contribution
from the error amplifier must be considered, and the gain
created by using a resistor divider cannot be forgotten.
Traditional low noise regulators bring the voltage refer-
ence out to an external pin (usually through a large value
resistor) to allow for bypassing and noise reduction of
reference noise. The LT3085 does not use a traditional
voltage reference like other linear regulators, but instead
uses a reference current. That current operates with typ-
ical noise current levels of 2.3pA/√Hz (0.7nARMS over
the 10Hz to 100kHz bandwidth). The voltage noise of this
is equal to the noise current multiplied by the resistor
value. The resistor generates spot noise equal to√4kTR
(k = Boltzmann’s constant, 1.38 • 10-23 J/°K, and T is
absolute temperature) which is RMS summed with the
reference current noise. To lower reference noise, the
voltage setting resistor may be bypassed with a capacitor,
though this causes start-up time to increase as a factor
of the RC time constant.