The shunt-LDO regulator to power the upgraded ATLAS pixel detector

The shunt-LDO regulator is a new regulator concept which combines a shunt and a Low Drop-Out (LDO) regulator. Designed as an improved shunt regulator to match the needs of serially powered detector systems, it can also be used as a pure LDO regulator for general application in powering schemes requiring linear regulation. The flexibility of the design makes the shunt-LDO regulator a good candidate for use in the powering schemes envisaged for the upgrades of the ATLAS pixel detector. Two shunt-LDO regulators integrated in the prototype of the next ATLAS pixel front-end chip, the FE-I4A, are used to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed powering solutions.