The LP2950-N and LP2951-N are micropower voltage regulators with very low quiescent current (75 μA typical) and very low dropout voltage (typical 40 mV at light loads and 380 mV at 100 mA). They are ideally suited for use in battery-powered systems. Furthermore, the quiescent current of the device increases only slightly in dropout, prolonging battery life.
Careful design of the LP2950-N/LP2951-N has minimized all contributions to the error budget. This includes a tight initial tolerance (0.5% typical), extremely good load and line regulation (0.05% typical) and a very low output voltage temperature coefficient, making the part useful as a low-power voltage reference.
One such feature is an error flag output which warns of a low output voltage, often due to falling batteries on the input. It may be used for a power-on reset. A second feature is the logic-compatible shutdown input which enables the regulator to be switched on and off. Also, the part may be pin-strapped for a 5-V, 3-V, or 3.3-V output (depending on the version), or programmed from 1.24 V to 29 V with an external pair of resistors.
The LP2950-N is available in the surface-mount TO-252 package and in the popular 3-pin TO-92 package for pin-compatibility with older 5-V regulators. The 8-pin LP2951-N is available in plastic, ceramic dual-in-line, WSON, or metal can packages and offers additional system functions.
