Standard three-terminal voltage regulator ICs use anNPN transistor as the series pass element,so the input-output voltage drop is 1.5V-2V. Low dropout regulators using lateral PNP pass transistors have been available for several years, but a lateral PNP transistorhaslow gain,sothe basecurrent is necessarily high, and a low fT, so the settling time is poor. Moreover, for stability a large output capacitor is needed.