5/24/2016

ApplyingMOSFETstoTodaysPowerSwitchingDesigns

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ApplyingMOSFETstoTodaysPowerSwitchingDesigns
ElectronicDesignFreelanceStaff
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Inthewakeofgalliumnitride(GaN)transistorintroductions,anumberofsemiconductormakershave
beguntoreassesstheroleplayedbyconventionalMOSFETs.TheintroductionofGaNdevicesdoesnt
automaticallyobsoletethelegacyMOSFETs,buttheprospectofimprovingpowersupplyefficienciesand
reducingtheirformfactorsisstimulatingtheimaginationofanalogengineers.Inadvanceofwhatsomeare
callingTheGaNRevolution,itmakessensetoreviewwhatlegacyparttypesareavailable,andwhatyou
candowiththem.
Untilfairlyrecently,thepowertransistorworldwasroughlydividedbetweentwotypesofpower
transistors:MOSFETswitchesandbipolarjunctiontransistors(BJTs).MOSFETswitches,whoserapidturn
on/turnoffcapabilityandlowonresistance(RDS(on))makethemusefulforpowerswitchingcircuits,
remainsthedominanttransistortype.Thereareroughly40billionMOSFETsshippedeachyear.
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UnderstandingMOSFETdatasheets,Part1UIS/avalancheratings

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UnderstandingMOSFETdatasheets,Part3Continuouscurrentratings

MOSFETsconductelectricalcurrentononedirection(or,rather,conductmostefficientlyinonedirection),
buttheirabilitytoturnonandturnoffrapidlyinresponsetoavoltagechangeattheirinputs(gatevoltage)
makesthemusefulaspulsegenerators.Thebestknownpowerswitchingcircuitsareswitchingpower
supplies,butMOSFETsarealsowidelyusedforpulsed(dc)motordrivesandClassDaudioamplifiers.
Bipolars,IGBTs

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UnlikepowerMOSFETs,whoseturnon/turnoffbehaviorisextremelyrapidand(ideally)linear,bipolar
transistorswillgeneratesoftedges,morecloselyresemblingsinewavesratherthansquarewaves.They
respondtocurrentchangesattheirinputs,whichmakesthemusefulfordrivingrelativelyslowchanging
inductiveloadsmotors,commoditypowersupplies,andaudiospeakers.Between7and8billionbipolar
powertransistorsareusedeachyear.
Togetbipolartransistorstobehavelikeamplifiers,youhavetofurthersoftentheirswitchingbehavior.You
needtobiasthetransistorsinsuchawaythatforcesthemtohanginalinearconductionregionneverfully
onandneverfullyoff,butsomewhereinbetween.Whiletheyaregoodatdrivinginductiveloads,without
thelowRDS(on)ofMOSFETs,theycangetveryhot.
Athirdtypeoftransistor,theinsulatedgatebipolartransistor(IGBT)iseffectivelyabipolartransistorwith
builtingatedrivers.Itenablesasomewhatfasterturnon/turnoffbehaviorforbipolardevices,thoughnot
asfastasMOSFETs.ThespecialadvantageofIGBTsistheirabilitytohandlehighvoltages(inexcessof600
V)andcurrents,makingIGBTsafavoriteforindustrialmotordriveapplicationsinfactoryautomation
(wheretheydriveconveyerbeltsandrobotarms)andinautomobiles(wheretheydrivethingslikethemoon
roofandsideviewmirror).About1.5to2.5billionIGBTsareshippedeachyear.
CharacterizingBehavior
Whilepowertransistorsarereadilyavailablewithawiderangeofvoltageandcurrentratings,packaging,
andmanufacturersapplicationssupport,theinheritbehaviorsofbipolartransistors,MOSFETs,andIGBTs
helpdefinetheirapplicationrequirements.Becausetheyrealsocheapinhighvolume(e.g.,12to15cents
each),100Vbipolartransistorsareroutinelyused,forexample,togeneratethe40Vrailsinaudiopower
amplifiers.(SomesuppliersincludeselfbiasingmechanismsforaudioBJTs.)
Meanwhile,the600VIGBTsfindhomesinmotordrives,suchashouseholdappliances(washingmachines
anddryers),whichinterfacewith220Vachouselines.Switchingpowersuppliesarebyfarthemost
dominantapplicationsforpowerMOSFETs.Here,whatscalledalowvoltageMOSFET25,30,or40V
isusedtogeneratethe5or12Vpowerrailsemployedincomputeserversandcommunicationsswitching
stations.
Whilethismaychange,engineershaveatendencytooverspecifyvoltageandcurrentrequirements.Youll
noticetheIGBTthatconnectsawashingmachinetoa220Vlineisratedfor600or650Vthepowertrain,
acomputerservercardmodulesupporting5.0or3.3Vlogic,startswitha30VMOSFET.And100or
200Vbipolartransistorsareusedtodrivestereoloudspeakers.
Theoverspecificationensurespowerwillalwaysbeavailabletothesystemswerepowering.However,it
alsoprovidesprotectionagainstsuddenvoltagespikesandcurrentsurges.(Theautomotiveenvironmentis
particularlypronetotransients,and400Vratedpartsarespecifiedtocopewith150Vloaddumps.)
Whatmaypreventengineersfromoverspecifying,eventually,isanongoingsmoothing,filtering,regulation
andpreregulationoftheentirepowertransmissionchain.Thisaffectscomputeserverarchitectures,for
example,wheresupplierslikeIBMandNTTDOCOMOadvocate385Vdcasthedistributionvoltagewithina
megawattdatacenter(and48Vastheintermediatevoltagewithinracksandcabinets).Thiswouldallow
designerstoreducethemarginswithwhichtheyspecifypowercomponents(asmaller,cheaper60Vpart,
forexample,inslotspreviouslyservedby100V).Inthemeantime,engineersshouldpayattentiontothe
safeoperatingareas(SOAs)specifiedinthetransistorstheyhopetouse.
UsetheSOA
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SwitchingpowersupplydesignersshouldpayattentiontotheSOAofthetransistortheyintendtouse.
TheSOAisdefinedasthevoltageandcurrentconditionsoverwhichthedevicecanbeexpectedtooperate
withoutdamagingitself.
TheSOAisusuallydepictedasgraphonthemanufacturersdatasheet.Thecurrent,intermsofamperes,is
shownontheYaxisofanXYplot.ThemaximumdraintosourcevoltageforaMOSFET(ortheemitterto
collectorvoltageforabipolarjunctiontransistor)isshownontheXaxis.Thecurvetypicallyresemblesa
skislope,withtheallowablecurrentdroppingoffsteeplywithincreasingvoltage.

SinceMOSFETsaretypicallyusedtogeneratepulsetrains,sometransistorvendorswilldepictSOAforthe
durationofthepulses(inmilliseconds).Ifthetransistorislefton(conductingdc),themaximumallowable
currenttrailsofffasterthanifthecurrentispulsedat1msintervals,orat10ms.Pulsingthetransistorat
100sintervals(equivalenttoa100kHzswitchingspeed)generatesthelargestSOA(Fig.1).Thus,theSOA
ofanytransistorwillvarywithitsdutycycle,theratioofitstimeontoitstimeoff.
HighandLowSideSwitching
Whenselectingtransistors,itmaybeadvisabletopayattentontohowtheMOSFETsareconfiguredina
powersupplycircuit.Specifically,determinewhethertheinductive(resistive)circuitloadisconnected
betweentheMOSFETsdrainandthepositivesupplyrailaconfigurationcalledlowsideswitchingor
whethertheloadisconnectedbetweenthetransistorssourceandgroundreferredtoashighside
switching.
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Thehighandlowsidetransistorsdontalwaysbehaveinunison.Whilethehighsidedriverwilldomore
workthanthelowsidedriver,youdontwantittolatchtothepositiverail.Similarly,youwantthelowside
drivertocrashintoground.Thus,highandlowsidedriverswillbespecifieddifferently.
Inalowsideswitchconfiguration,thesourceterminalofthenchannelFETisconnectedtogroundthe
drainconnectstoaninductiveload,whoseotherterminalisconnectedtothepositivesupplyrail.Any
(positive)gatechargeonthetransistorturnsitonandpullscurrentthroughtheload.Inthelowside
configuration,itsthegatethreshholdvoltage3VCMOSor5Vlogiclevelthatcontrolsthebehavoirof
theswitch.
Inahighsideconfiguration,thedrainoftheMOSFETisconnectedtothepositivesupplyrail,andthe
transistorssourceisconnectedtotheloadwhoseotherterminalisconnectedtoground.Inthis
configuration,thenchanneltransistorsgatemustproduceavoltageequaltothevoltageacrosstheload
(almostequivalenttothesupplyvoltage)plusthegatethreshholdvoltage(3V)justtogettheswitchto
turnon.
ChannelingPandNChannels
ItspossibletomakeasimplehighsideswitchfromPchannelMOSFETs.Usinganegativevoltagetogetthe
PchannelMOSFETtoturnonaffectsthethresholdcontrol.Thatis,gettingthetransistortoconduct
currentandlettingitcomeuptothesupplyrailtoturnitoff.
ButPchanneltransistorsaredifficulttomakedevices,whichwillcostmorethanconventionalNchannel
FETs,andmayneedanegativegatevoltage(oratleastanattachmenttoground)justtogetittoturnon.
Thissupportsbatterypowerforportables,butdoesntreadilylenditselfwelltoswitchingpowersupply
designs.
OnesolutionistocombineNandPchanneltransistorsinatotempoleconfigurationinwhichtheypull
currentinapushpullconfiguration.Here,ahighsidePchannelMOSFETandalowsideNchannel
MOSFEThavetheirdrainstiedtogetherwhiletheirinputgatesarestimulatedsynchronouslytoaffecta
singlehighcurrentswitch.Duringswitching,designerswillneedtomonitorcrossovercurrentsthatmay
occurifthegatedriveforcesbothMOSFETstoturnonsimultaneously.

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AsanalternativetonotquitematchingPchannelandNchannelMOSFETs,designerscanusegatedriver
ICsthatpowerhighandlowsideMOSFETs(bothNchanneldevices)inapushpullconfiguration.Both
transistorscanbeswitchedonandofffromoneIC(Fig.2).
Asafinalnote,therelationshipbetweentheRDS(on)ofthetransistorunderloadandtheswtiching
behaviorsoftheMOSFETisnotentirelypositive(thoughlowRDS(on)isgenerallythefirstMOSFETspec
manufacturersandfoundrieswillcite).TheloadRDS(on)numbercontributestotheefficiencyoftheFET
thelowertheRDS(on),thesmallertheheatdisipation.However,thisdoesincreasetransistorswitching
speed.ThelowRDS(on)tendstolengthengatedimensions(addscapacitance)andmakesthemdifficultto
drive.
Lookingforparts?GotoSourceESB.
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UnderstandingMOSFETdatasheets,Part3Continuouscurrentratings

SourceURL:http://electronicdesign.com/mosfets/applyingmosfetstodayspowerswitchingdesigns

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