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Enhanced Linear Regulators

Power without the noise.

Polaris Enhanced Linear Regulators (ELRs) pair a linear regulator with patented photovoltaic-output optocouplers, blending the low noise and small footprint of a linear design with efficiency and functionality previously only attainable with switchers.

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Conventional 82.2 °C
Thermal camera image of a conventional linear regulator board converting 10 V to 3.3 V at 180 mA: the board glows yellow and red, with the regulator white-hot at 82.2 °C.
Polaris ELR 48.7 °C
Thermal camera image of a Polaris Enhanced Linear Regulator board doing the same 10 V to 3.3 V, 180 mA job: the board stays cool blue, the regulator a faint green at 48.7 °C.
FIG.01 — Same job, 33.5 °C cooler: converting 10 V → 3.3 V at 180 mA, a conventional linear runs at 82.2 °C; the Polaris ELR, 48.7 °C
<1 µV
RMS noise (BK30)
>120 dB
Peak PSRR
60–85%
Buck efficiency
200 krad
TID rad tolerance
0
Inductors. Ever.
The problem

Size. Efficiency. Noise. For decades, you could pick two.

Switchers are efficient but generate noise. Linear regulators are quiet but waste excess voltage as heat. The Enhanced Linear Regulator ends the trade.

Efficiency

The LDO ceiling, broken

Typically 1.2× to >2× the efficiency of a conventional linear regulator, depending on voltage step — less heat, lower current draw, simpler thermal design.

Efficiency versus input voltage at a 1.8 V output: the Polaris regulator holds 54–65% across a 4.5–5.5 V input while a conventional linear regulator falls from 40% to 32% — roughly a 70% efficiency increase.
5 V → 1.8 V, a wide step: up to ~70% more efficient than a conventional linear — dramatically reducing dissipated power.
Noise

A linear noise floor

Clean, ripple-free output matching the best available LDOs — down to <1 µV RMS and >120 dB PSRR on the BK30 series. Zero switching EMI, by construction.

Output noise spectral density from 10 Hz to 10 MHz: the Polaris regulator holds a flat, low noise floor while a low-noise switcher sits two to three orders of magnitude higher with large switching harmonics above 1 MHz.
Output noise vs. a low-noise switcher: on par with the best LDOs — orders of magnitude below the switcher, no spurs.
SWaP

No inductors, minimal BoM

Compact QFN packages (36–49 mm², 0.8 mm profile) with a handful of small passives. No switching means no noise filtering and no radiated EMI design risks.

A complete BT29 boost evaluation board next to a US quarter — the board is smaller than the coin, carrying the QFN regulator and four small passives.
A complete boost solution, smaller than a quarter (BT29 shown) — one QFN, a few passives, no inductor.
Products

Find your regulator

Pick by current, by noise floor, or by radiation rating. Evaluation boards are available for every part; datasheets and SPICE models on request.

BK19 series evaluation board with the QFN Enhanced Linear Regulator at center
BK19
Mission Critical
Max Iout900 mA
TID200 krad
BK29 series evaluation board with the QFN Enhanced Linear Regulator at center
BK29
Reliable Workhorse
Max Iout1 A
Max Vin26 V
BK30 series evaluation board with the QFN Enhanced Linear Regulator at center
BK30
Ultra-Low Noise
RMS noise<1 µV
PSRR @ 1 kHz>100 dB
BT29 series evaluation board with the QFN Enhanced Linear Regulator at center
BT29
Switching-Free Boost
Peak efficiency>65%
Max Vout5 V
Full parametric selection table Buck regulators Boost regulators
Flight heritage

Tried and tested in space.

Polaris Enhanced Linear Regulators launched to the International Space Station aboard JAXA's HTV-X1 in October 2025 on the Aegis Aerospace MISSE-21 platform. The qualification experiment ran continuously for six months from January 8, 2026 — amassing more than 4,000 hours of telemetry data — with devices performing as expected against a ground-control twin in Alexandria, VA.

Follow the mission
Polaris flight experiment hardware: two stacked green circuit boards carrying Enhanced Linear Regulators and telemetry electronics, with a wiring harness, integrated for the MISSE-21 platform on the International Space Station.
FIG.02 — Polaris flight hardware, MISSE-21 · International Space Station
How it works

Photons do the heavy lifting

Inside every ELR, a silicon LDO is co-packaged with Polaris's proprietary optocouplers — each a single monolithic GaAs chip integrating the LED and photovoltaic cell. The optocoupler converts electrical power into light and back at over 52% efficiency, recycling energy that a conventional regulator would dissipate as heat. The same mechanism steps voltage up: the world's first efficient switching-free boost regulator.

Built on trusted foundations — RH1965, MIC29152, and LT3045 regulator cores — and protected by three granted U.S. patents.

How it works Tech docs library
Diagram of a Polaris Enhanced Linear Regulator: a silicon LDO co-packaged with photovoltaic-output optocouplers. Across the input-to-output voltage drop, a small part is lost as heat in the LDO's pass transistor while the larger part is recycled via light — the optocouplers' LEDs illuminate photovoltaic cells that feed recovered current forward to the output.
FIG.03 — PV-output optocouplers co-packaged with an LDO
Newsroom

Latest from Polaris

Polaris Semiconductor Selected for the ISS National Lab's 2026 Orbital Edge Accelerator

Polaris joins the Sentinel Track of the 2026 Orbital Edge Accelerator, backed by investment partners Stellar Ventures, Context Ventures, and CIRI. Through the program, Polaris will work toward a planned on-orbit demonstration of its ultra-low-noise BK30 regulator family through the ISS National Lab.

Polaris Semiconductor Named a Winner of the U.S. Army's xTech|Phantum Competition

The Army selected Polaris in the Photonics topic area for a concept on uncooled GaSb-based photodiodes for free-space optical communications at 2.2–2.5 µm. The award carries a $20,000 prize and eligibility to submit a Phase I Army SBIR proposal.

Polaris Semiconductor Powers Up Space Flight Heritage Experiment Aboard the International Space Station

Polaris's ELR space qualification experiment aboard the ISS is now operational, with over 1000 hours of on-orbit data since power-up on January 8, 2026.
All news
FAQ

Enhanced Linear Regulators, in seven questions

What is an Enhanced Linear Regulator (ELR)?
An Enhanced Linear Regulator is an inductorless, switching-free DC voltage regulator that co-packages a linear regulator (LDO) with patented photovoltaic-output optocouplers. The optocouplers recycle power normally dissipated in a conventional LDO, so the device keeps the low noise, small footprint, and simple bill of materials of a linear regulator while reaching efficiency approaching that of a switching regulator.
When should I use a Polaris regulator instead of a conventional LDO or a switching regulator?
Use a Polaris Enhanced Linear Regulator when you need switching-class efficiency but cannot tolerate switching noise or the bill-of-materials that a switching regulator requires. Compared with a conventional LDO it delivers typically 1.2 to over 2 times higher efficiency, cutting heat and current draw; compared with a switching regulator it eliminates EMI, simplifies PCB layout, and removes the inductor. It is well suited to RF circuits, precision sensing, scientific instrumentation, low-noise imaging, medical devices, and space-constrained or radiation-prone designs.
How efficient are Polaris voltage regulators?
Buck Enhanced Linear Regulators typically offer peak efficiencies in the 60% to 85% range and deliver roughly 1.2 to more than 2 times the efficiency of a conventional linear regulator, depending on the voltage step. The BT29 linear boost regulator reaches greater than 65% peak conversion efficiency.
Are Polaris regulators radiation hardened?
All four product families — BK19, BK29, BK30, and BT29 — are rated radiation-tolerant to 200 krad(Si) total ionizing dose. The BK19 is built on a QML-V radiation-hardness-assured RH1965 LDO core, and the Polaris optocouplers co-packaged with every LDO are radiation-tolerant by design, characterized extensively both standalone and in the finished package. Radiation-hardness-assurance qualification of the complete co-packaged regulator is on the Polaris roadmap.
What radiation and reliability testing has Polaris completed?
Polaris devices have completed total-ionizing-dose testing with cobalt-60, destructive single-event-effects testing, and proton, electron, and neutron irradiation, along with MIL-STD-883-style accelerated-lifetime testing. The campaign covers standalone optocouplers, co-packaged regulators, and upscreened commercial LDO cores. Test reports are available to customers on request.
Have Polaris regulators flown in space?
Yes. Polaris ELRs launched to the International Space Station in October 2025 aboard JAXA’s HTV-X1 on the Aegis Aerospace MISSE-21 platform. The flight experiment has operated continuously since January 8, 2026, with devices performing as expected against a ground-control twin.
Do Polaris regulators require inductors?
No. Polaris Enhanced Linear Regulators are inductorless and switching-free. They require only a handful of small passives and use compact QFN packages of 36 to 49 square millimeters with a 0.8 millimeter profile, making them suitable for space-constrained designs with demanding power-integrity requirements.
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