Bay Linear, Inc 2418 Armstrong Street, Livermore, CA 94550 Tel: (925) 606-5950, Fax: (925) 940-9556 www.baylinear.com
LM317
Application Notes:
The LM317 provides an internal reference
voltage of 1.25V between the output and
adjustments terminals. This is used to set a
constant current flow across an external resistor
divider show below, giving an output voltage
VO of:
VO = VREF ( 1 + R 2 R 1 ) + IADJ R2
The device was designed to minimize the term
IADJ ( 100 m A max) and to maintain it very
constant with line and load changes. Usually,
the error term IADJ V R2 can be neglected. To
obtain the previous requirement, all the
regulator quiescent current is returned to the
output terminal, imposing a minimum load
current condition. If the load is insufficient, the
output voltage will rise. Since the LM317 is a
floating regulator and ” sees” only the input- to-
output differential voltage, supplies of very high
voltage with respect to ground can be regulated
as long as the maximum input- to- output
differential is not exceeded. Furthermore,
programmable regulator are easily obtainable
and, by connecting a fixed resistor between the
adjustment and output, the device can be used as
a precision current regulator. In order to
optimise the load regulation, the current set
resistor R1 show below should be tied as close
as possible to the regulator, while the ground
terminal of R2 should be near the ground of the
load to provide remote ground sensing.
Performance may be improved with added
capacitance as follow:
An input bypass capacitor of 0.1µF
An adjustment terminal to ground 10µF
capacitor
to improve the ripple rejection of about 15 dB (
CADJ).
An 1µF tantalium ( or 25 µFAluminium
electrolitic) capacitor on the output to improve
transient response. In additional to external
capacitors, it is good practice to add protection
diodes, as shown in below.
D1 protect the device against input short circuit,
while D2 protect against output short circuit for
capacitance discharging.