
LM137/LM337
3-Terminal Adjustable Negative Regulators
General Description
The LM137/LM337 are adjustable 3-terminal negative volt-
age regulators capable of supplying in excess of 1.5A over
an output voltage range of 1.2V to 37V. These regulators
are exceptionally easy to apply, requiring only 2 external
resistors to set the output voltage and 1 output capacitor for
frequency compensation. The circuit design has been opti-
mized for excellent regulation and low thermal transients.
Further, the LM137 series features internal current limiting,
thermal shutdown and safe-area compensation, making
them virtually blowout-proof against overloads.
The LM137/LM337 serve a wide variety of applications in-
cluding local on-card regulation, programmable-output volt-
age regulation or precision current regulation. The LM137/
LM337 are ideal complements to the LM117/LM317
adjustable positive regulators.
Features
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Output voltage adjustable from 1.2V to 37V
n
1.5A output current guaranteed, 55C to +150C
n
Line regulation typically 0.01%/V
n
Load regulation typically 0.3%
n
Excellent thermal regulation, 0.002%/W
n
77 dB ripple rejection
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Excellent rejection of thermal transients
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50 ppm/C temperature coefficient
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Temperature-independent current limit
n
Internal thermal overload protection
n
P
+ Product Enhancement tested
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Standard 3-lead transistor package
n
Output is short circuit protected
LM137 Series Packages and Power Capability
Rated
Design
Device
Package
Power
Load
Dissipation
Current
LM137/337
TO-3 (K)
20W
1.5A
TO-39 (H)
2W
0.5A
LM337
TO-220 (T)
15W
1.5A
LM337
SOT-223
(MP)
2W
1A
Typical Applications
Adjustable Negative Voltage Regulator
00906701
Full output current not available at high input-output voltages
C1=1F solid tantalum or 10 F aluminum electrolytic required for
stability
*C2=1F solid tantalum is required only if regulator is more than 4" from
power-supply filter capacitor
Output capacitors in the range of 1 F to 1000 F of aluminum or tantalum
electrolytic are commonly used to provide improved output impedance and
rejection of transients
Comparison between SOT-223 and
D-Pak (TO-252) Packages
00906731
Scale 1:1
November 2004
LM137/LM337
3-T
erminal
Adjustable
Negative
Regulators
2004 National Semiconductor Corporation
DS009067
www.national.com