Growing awareness of sustainable energy consumption has led to increased electrification across a wide range of applications. Particularly in the automotive sector, the number of electrical components continues to rise due to technological innovations driven by advancements in electric vehicles and autonomous driving. Each of these electrical applications requires various voltage sources, all stabilized by capacitors. This results in a greater demand for external components, increasing the size of printed circuit boards and adding costs to the bill of materials.
Following the development of the Nano Pulse Control™ very high speed pulse control technology and the Nano Energy™ ultra-low current technology, ROHM has added a third Nano power supply technology, Nano Cap™, which reduces the number of external capacitors required for linear regulators.
In a circuit, typically composed of a linear regulator and a microcontroller (MCU), a 1 µF capacitor is usually required at the output of the linear regulator, while 100 nF is required at the input of the MCU. However, ROHM's linear regulator, which utilizes Nano Cap™ technology—developed by combining analog expertise in circuit design, layout, and manufacturing processes—eliminates the need for the capacitor at the regulator's output and ensures stable operation with only the 100 nF input capacitor. By reducing both the number of capacitors and the capacitance required for power supply circuits in the automotive and other industries, ROHM can help minimize circuit design effort.
In addition, samples of operational amplifiers using Nano Cap™ technology have already been partially released, and linear regulators using Nano Cap™ technology, as well as LED drivers incorporating regulators equipped with Nano Cap™, are expected to be released in 2020.
ROHM is determined to further improve the development of Nano Cap™ technology to completely eliminate the need for capacitors, while expanding the use of this technology not only to linear regulators, but also to operational amplifiers, LED drivers, and other analog integrated circuits, contributing to society through the efficient use of resources that minimize environmental impact.
(Fig. 1a + 1b)
About Nano Cap™ Technology:
Nano Cap™ power supply technology refers to ultra-stable control technology achieved by combining expertise in advanced analog design, encompassing circuit design, processes, and layout, using ROHM's vertically integrated production system. This optimized control eliminates the operational stability issues associated with capacitors in analog circuits, contributing to reduced design time for a wide range of applications in the automotive, industrial equipment, consumer, and other sectors.
Nano Cap™ Technology Details:
Nano Cap provides stable control of the linear regulator output, improving response in analog circuits while minimizing parasitic factors related to wiring and amplifiers, allowing the output capacitance to be reduced to less than 1/10th that of conventional solutions.
(Fig. 2)
As a result, in circuits consisting of a linear regulator and an MCU that normally require a 1 µF capacitor at the output of the linear regulator and a 100 nF capacitor at the input of the MCU as mentioned above, ROHM's Nano Cap™ linear regulator technology achieves stable operation using only a 100 nF capacitor on the MCU side.
Due to the industry's need for a maximum output voltage fluctuation of ±5.0% (when focusing solely on fluctuation) with respect to the 50mA load current fluctuation with a capacitance of 100nF, chips equipped with Nano Cap™ achieve stable operation of ±3.6% in evaluations, compared to conventional linear regulators whose output voltage can vary up to ±15.6%.
Other Nano Power Supply Technologies:
ROHM has created Nano power supply technologies by incorporating its proprietary analog design expertise, combining circuit design, processes, and layout using a vertically integrated production system. The following are other Nano power supply technologies focused on power integrated circuits developed by ROHM that help solve application problems in a wide range of products.
Nano Pulse Control™
refers to ROHM's very high-speed pulse control technology for power ICs that achieves a turn-on time (power IC control width) on the order of nanoseconds (ns). This enables high-to-low voltage conversion using a single IC, unlike conventional solutions that require two or more power ICs. This contributes to further miniaturization and system simplification in 48V applications ranging from mild hybrid vehicles and industrial robots to base station power supplies.
Nano Energy™
This ultra-low current technology features no-load current consumption in the nA range, minimizing the compensation required when reducing current draw in ultra-light loads. As a result, it enables the 10-year control on a single coin cell battery demanded by the Internet of Things market, allowing for long-term operation in compact, battery-powered applications, including handhelds, wearables, and IoT devices.
