Current mirror in a bandgap reference

Sep 25, 2010 7 Replies

I was looking through some of the example circuits that come with LTSpice, and there's a file with some bandgap voltage references. I'm unfamiliar with the current mirror arrangement in the following schematic...the transistor directly above Out is an NPN, not the PNP I would expect for something like a Wilson current mirror. If I switch it to a PNP, the circuit doesn't work properly anymore. For the bandgap to work properly I'm assuming that Q1 must have a larger emitter area than Q2 to generate a Vbe differential. Any insight would be appreciated!



VCC -+ | ------------- | | >| |< Q5 |---o---| Q4 /| | |\ o | | | '-----o | | | |/ .-------o-| Q3 | |>



| .--- | | Out | .-. | | | | | | | '-' | .------' \| | | Q2 |--o- |/


It's a cascode, allowing a current path that's not resistive. ...Jim Thompson

| James E.Thompson, CTO | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | Obama, All Blow but NO Hard

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