IRL7833/S/LPbF
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Control FET
Special attention has been given to the power losses
in the switching elements of the circuit - Q1 and Q2.
Power losses in the high side switch Q1, also called
the Control FET, are impacted by the Rds(on) of the
MOSFET, but these conduction losses are only about
one half of the total losses.
Power losses in the control switch Q1 are given
by;
Ploss = Pconduction+ Pswitching+ Pdrive+ Poutput
This can be expanded and approximated by;
P
loss =Irms 2×Rds(on )
()
+I×Qgd
ig
×Vin ×f
⎛
⎝
⎜ ⎞
⎠
⎟ +I×Qgs2
ig
×Vin ×
⎛
⎝
⎜ ⎞
⎠
⎟
+Qg×Vg×f
()
+Qoss
2×Vin ×f
⎛
⎝ ⎞
⎠
This simplified loss equation includes the terms Qgs2
and Qoss which are new to Power MOSFET data sheets.
Qgs2 is a sub element of traditional gate-source
charge that is included in all MOSFET data sheets.
The importance of splitting this gate-source charge
into two sub elements, Qgs1 and Qgs2, can be seen from
Fig 16.
Qgs2 indicates the charge that must be supplied by
the gate driver between the time that the threshold
voltage has been reached and the time the drain cur-
rent rises to Idmax at which time the drain voltage be-
gins to change. Minimizing Qgs2 is a critical factor in
reducing switching losses in Q1.
Qoss is the charge that must be supplied to the out-
put capacitance of the MOSFET during every switch-
ing cycle. Figure A shows how Qoss is formed by the
parallel combination of the voltage dependant (non-
linear) capacitances Cds and Cdg when multiplied by
the power supply input buss voltage.
Synchronous FET
The power loss equation for Q2 is approximated
by;
loss =P
conduction +P
drive +P
output
*
loss =Irms
2×Rds(on)()
+Qg×Vg×f
()
+Qoss
2×Vin ×f
⎛
⎝
⎜ ⎞
⎠ +Qrr ×Vin ×
(
*dissipated primarily in Q1.
For the synchronous MOSFET Q2, Rds(on) is an im-
portant characteristic; however, once again the im-
portance of gate charge must not be overlooked since
it impacts three critical areas. Under light load the
MOSFET must still be turned on and off by the con-
trol IC so the gate drive losses become much more
significant. Secondly, the output charge Qoss and re-
verse recovery charge Qrr both generate losses that
are transfered to Q1 and increase the dissipation in
that device. Thirdly, gate charge will impact the
MOSFETs’ susceptibility to Cdv/dt turn on.
The drain of Q2 is connected to the switching node
of the converter and therefore sees transitions be-
tween ground and Vin. As Q1 turns on and of f there is
a rate of change of drain voltage dV/dt which is ca-
pacitively coupled to the gate of Q2 and can induce
a voltage spike on the gate that is sufficient to turn
the MOSFET on, resulting in shoot-through current .
The ratio of Qgd/Qgs1 must be minimized to reduce the
potential for Cdv/dt turn on.
Power MOSFET Selection for Non-Isolated DC/DC Converters
Figure A: Qoss Characteristic