A CMOS low noise, chopper stabilized low-dropout regulator with current-mode feedback error amplifier

Low 1/f noise, low-dropout (LDO) regulators are becoming critical for the supply regulation of deep-submicron analog baseband and RF system-on-chip designs. A low-noise, high accuracy LDO regulator (LN-LDO) utilizing a chopper stabilized error amplifier is presented. In order to achieve fast response during load transients, a current-mode feedback amplifier (CFA) is designed as a second stage driving the regulation FET. In order to reduce clock feed-through and 1/f noise accumulation at the chopping frequency, a first-order digital ΣΔ noise-shaper is used for chopping clock spectral spreading. With up to 1 MHz noise-shaped modulation clock, the LN-LDO achieves a noise spectral density of 32 nV/√Hz and a PSR of 38 dB at 100 kHz. The proposed LDO is shown to reduce the phase noise of an integrated 32 MHz temperature compensated crystal oscillator (TCXO) at 10 kHz offset by 15 dB. Due to reduced 1/f noise requirements, the error amplifier silicon area is reduced by 75%, and the overall regulator area is reduced by 50% with respect to an equivalent noise static regulator. The current-mode feedback second stage buffer reduces regulator settling time by 60% in comparison to an equivalent power consumption voltage mode buffer, achieving 0.6 μs settling time for a 25-mA load step. The LN-LDO is designed and fabricated on a 0.25 μm CMOS process with five layers of metal, occupying 0.88 mm².