Location:Training / Power Supply / Minimizing Switching Regulator Carryover in Linear Regulator Outputs / Minimizing Switching Regulator Carryover in Linear Regulator Outputs

Linear regulators are often used to post-regulate the output of a switching regulator. Benefits include improved stability, accuracy, and transient response performance as well as reduced output impedance. Ideally, along with these performance improvements, the ripples and spikes produced by the switching regulator will be significantly reduced. Virtually all linear regulators encounter some difficulties involving ripple and spikes, especially as frequency increases. This video is excerpted from Linear Technology's Application Note 101, which explains the causes of dynamic limitations of linear regulators and introduces board-level techniques to measure and improve ripple and suppress spikes.