June 1999

1

MIC39500/39501

MIC39500/39501

Micrel

Ordering Information

Part Number

Voltage

Junction Temp. Range

Package

MIC39500-2.5BT

2.5V

–40

°C to +125°C

3-lead TO-220

MIC39500-2.5BU

2.5V

–40

°C to +125°C

3-lead TO-263

MIC39501-2.5BT

2.5V

–40

°C to +125°C

5-lead TO-220

MIC39501-2.5BU

2.5V

–40

°C to +125°C

5-lead TO-263

MIC39500/39501

5A Low-Voltage Low-Dropout Regulator

Advance Information

General Description

The MIC39500 and MIC39501 is a 5A low-dropout linear

voltage regulator that provides a low-voltage, high-current

output with a minimum of external components. Utilizing

Micrel’s proprietary Super

βeta PNP™ pass element, the

MIC39500 offers extremely low dropout (typically 400mV at

5A) and low ground current (typically 70mA at 5A).

The MIC39500 is ideal for PC Add-In cards that need to

convert from standard 5V or 3.3V, down to new, lower core

voltages. A guaranteed maximum dropout voltage of 500mV

over all operating conditions allows the MIC39500 to provide

2.5V from a supply as low as 3V. The MIC39500 also has fast

transient response, for heavy switching applications. The

device requires only 47

µF of output capacitance to maintain

stability and achieve fast transient response

The MIC39500 is fully protected with overcurrent limiting,

thermal shutdown, reversed-battery and reversed-lead in-

sertion protection. The MIC39501 offers a TTL-logic-compat-

ible enable pin and an error flag that indicates undervoltage

and overcurrent conditions. The MIC39500 comes in the TO-

220 and TO-263 packages and is an ideal upgrade to older,

NPN-based linear voltage regulators.

For applications requiring input voltage

greater than 16V, see the

MIC29500/1/2/3 family.

Typical Application

IN

OUT

GND

3.3V

2.5V

1.0µF

47µF

MIC39500-2.5

MIC39500

Features

• 5A minimum guaranteed output current

• 500mV maximum dropout voltage over temperature

• 1% initial accuracy

• Low ground current

• Current limiting and thermal shutdown

• Reversed-battery and reversed-lead insertion protection

• Fast transient response

• TO-263 and TO-220 packages

• TTL/CMOS compatible enable pin (MIC39501 only)

• Error flag output (MIC39501 only)

Applications

• LDO linear regulator for PC add-in cards

• PowerPC™ power supplies

• High-efficiency linear power supplies

• SMPS post regulator

• Multimedia and PC processor supplies

• Low-voltage microcontrollers

• StrongARM™ processor supply

Micrel, Inc. • 1849 Fortune Drive • San Jose, CA 95131 • USA • tel + 1 (408) 944-0800 • fax + 1 (408) 944-0970 • http://www.micrel.com

StrongARM is a trademark of Advanced RISC Machines, Ltd.

MIC39501-2.5

FLG

OUT

ERROR

FLAG OUTPUT

47µF

EN

GND

IN

2.5V

1.0µF

Enable

Shutdown

3.3V

100K

Ω

MIC39501