A five-terminal plus or minus 15-V monolithic voltage regulator

A five-terminal /spl plusmn/15-V monolithic voltage regulator has been developed that incorporates internal frequency compensation and internally provides a /spl plusmn/1 percent output voltage tolerance. In addition, a thermally symmetric layout design of the chip has been used to eliminate the detrimental effects of thermal feedback on the die and ensure that the complementary tracking output voltages will be independent of the power dissipation in the series pass power transistors. Complete fault protection is accomplished by providing the power transistors with good dc safe operating area, internally limiting the short circuit output currents, and accurately limiting the junction temperature to within 10/spl deg/C of the specified maximum limit. Also, a new Zener diode geometry is employed that significantly reduces the noise associated with the reference voltage.