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White LED Driver in Tiny SC70 Package (LT1937 Design Note 315)

Design note for the LT1937 white LED driver, featuring a 1.2MHz switching frequency, high efficiency, and constant current architecture for portable backlighting applications.

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Overview

This design document details the LT1937, a step-up white LED driver optimized for Li-Ion powered applications such as cellular phones and digital cameras. The device uses a constant current architecture to ensure uniform LED brightness and color regardless of forward voltage variations. Key features include a 36V internal switch capable of driving up to eight LEDs in series, a 1.2MHz constant switching frequency to minimize component size, and a low 95mV feedback voltage to reduce power loss. The document provides a schematic for a 15mA three-LED driver, efficiency curves peaking at 84%, and various dimming control methods including PWM, DC voltage, and logic signal step-adjustment.

Use Cases

  • Cellular phone backlight display
  • PDA display backlighting
  • Digital camera LCD backlighting
  • Small battery-powered portable devices

Topics

LT1937
white LED driver
step-up converter
boost regulator
Li-Ion battery
constant current
PWM dimming
SC70 package
ThinSOT
CMDSH-3
LQH3C-220

Referenced Parts

CMDSH-3

Central Semiconductor

D1: CENTRAL SEMICONDUCTOR CMDSH-3

LT1937

Linear Technology

The LT1937 step-up white LED driver is an ideal solution for small battery-powered portable devices such as cellular phones, PDAs and digital cameras.

LQH3C-220

Murata

L1: MURATA LQH3C-220 OR EQUIVALENT

White LED Driver in Tiny SC70 Package (LT1937 Design Note 315) | Design Resources