A capacitor-free fast-response low-dropout voltage regulator

Abstract

An off-chip capacitor-free low-dropout (LDO) regulator using an improved frequency compensation scheme is proposed. The proposed LDO regulator employs a class-AB error amplifier and a load-current tracker. Outstanding line regulation, load regulation and transient response are achieved. SPICE simulation based on SMIC 0.35 µm CMOS technology shows that the proposed LDO regulator has a low frequency gain over 100 dB and a unity-gain bandwidth in the MHz range. In terms of transient response, the 1% settling time is shorter than 0.2 µs.