Filter Capacitor Selection (Continued)
parable to ceramics) and good temperature stability (comparable to tantalums). The Aluminum Polymer Electrolytics
offered by Cornell-Dubilier and Panasonic, and the POSCAPs offered by Sanyo fall under this category.
Table 1
compares the features of the three capacitor tech-
nologies.
TABLE 1. Comparison of Capacitor Technologies
Ceramic Tantalum
Polymer
Electrolytic
ESR Lowest High Low
Relative Height Low for Small Values (
<
10 µF); Taller for
Higher Values
Lowest Low
Relative Footprint Large Small Largest
Temperature Stability X7R/X5R-Acceptable Good Good
Frequency Stability Good Acceptable Good
V
OUT
Ripple Magnitude
@
<
50 mA Low High Low
V
OUT
Ripple Magnitude
@
>
100 mA Low Slightly Higher Low
dv/dt of V
OUT
Ripple@All Loads Lowest High Low
b) CAPACITOR SELECTION
i) Output Capacitor (C
OUT
)
The output capacitor C
OUT
directly affects the magnitude of
the output ripple voltage so C
OUT
should be carefully se-
lected. The graphs titled V
OUT
Ripple vs. C
OUT
in the Typical
Performance Characteristics section show how the ripple
voltage magnitude is affected by the C
OUT
value and the
capacitor technology. These graphs are taken at the gain at
which worst case ripple is observed. In general, the higher
the value of C
OUT
, the lower the output ripple magnitude. At
lighter loads, the low ESR ceramics offer a much lower V
OUT
ripple than the higher ESR tantalums of the same value. At
higher loads, the ceramics offer a slightly lower V
OUT
ripple
magnitude than the tantalums of the same value. However,
the dv/dt of the V
OUT
ripple with the ceramics and polymer
electrolytics is much lower than the tantalums under all load
conditions. The tantalums are suggested for very low profile,
small size applications. The ceramics and polymer electrolytics are a good choice for low ripple, low noise applications
where size is less of a concern.
ii) Input Capacitor (C
IN
)
The input capacitor C
IN
directly affects the magnitude of the
input ripple voltage, and to a lesser degree the V
OUT
ripple.
A higher value C
IN
will give a lower VINripple. To optimize
low input and output ripple as well as size a 10 µF polymer
electrolytic or ceramic, or 15 µF tantalum capacitor is recommended. This will ensure low input ripple at 90 mA load
current. If lower currents will be used or higher input ripple
can be tolerated then a smaller capacitor may be used to
reduce the overall size of the circuit. The lower ESR ceramics and polymer electrolytics achieve a lower V
IN
ripple than
the higher ESR tantalums of the same value. Tantalums
make a good choice for small size, very low profile applications. The ceramics and polymer electrolytics are a good
choice for low ripple, low noise applications where size is
less of a concern. The 10 µF polymer electrolytics are physically much larger than the 15 µF tantalums and 10 µF
ceramics.
iii) C
FIL
A 1 µF, X7R ceramic capacitor should be connected to pin
C
FIL
. This capacitor provides the filtering needed for the
internal supply rail of the LM3354.
Of the different capacitor technologies, a sample of vendors
that have been verified as suitable for use with the LM3354
are shown in
Table 2
.
TABLE 2. Capacitor Vendor Information
Manufacturer Tel Fax Website
Ceramic Taiyo-yuden (408) 573-4150 (408) 573-4159 www.t-yuden.com
AVX (803) 448-9411 (803) 448-1943 www.avxcorp.com
Sprague/Vishay (207) 324-4140 (207) 324-7223 www.vishay.com
Tantalum
Nichicon (847) 843-7500 (847) 843-2798 www.nichicon.com
Polymer Electrolytic Cornell-Dubilier (ESRD) (508) 996-8561 (508) 996-3830 www.cornell-dubilier.com
Sanyo (POSCAP) (619) 661-6322 (619) 661-1055 www.sanyovideo.com
LM3354
www.national.com9