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Abstract — Half-bridge structures are extensively used in voltage and current transitions can take several
power electronics applications: lighting, power supplies, UPS forms. Figure II-1 shows three possible linearized
and motor drives. When these half-bridge circuits are hard
switched, the low side diode reverse recovery affects system transitions of voltage and current waveforms and
performance. This paper reviews the principle of diode reverse how the energy of the transition is calculated.
recovery and how this affects the semiconductor switch These basic formulae are used in the following
performance. Practical tests showing how di/dt and discussion. Further, they are important in
temperature affect performance are presented. Finally
measurements using different devices are compared showing understanding the effect of capacitance on turn off
the curves for fast and soft recovery diodes, showing that in losses in a later section of this paper.
some cases, efficiency can be improved by adding capacitance
in parallel with the diode.
I. INTRODUCTION I
Half-bridge structures having two semiconductor V
switches with anti-parallel diodes are extensively
used in power applications. Examples include motor
drives, solar inverters, welding equipment and
general AC/DC power supplies.
This paper focuses on how the choice of diodes t
0
affects the total switching losses. The effect of
diode reverse recovery is introduced, showing how E=1/2VIt E=1/3VIt E=1/6VIt
1 1 1
E ON DIODE = t B VDDIRRM (1) IL + IRRM > IRRM (5)
6 2 3
where VDD is the bus voltage. The power However, the switching loss generated in the
dissipation during time tA is considered to be part of diode itself (equation 1) is proportional to tB. As a
the conduction losses of the diode. soft recovery diode has a larger tB value than a
The reverse recovery current also induces extra normal diode, the diode losses will be higher.
losses in the semiconductor switch. The total switch Nevertheless, accounting for these losses in the
on loss is given by the following formula: above equation shows that there is still a clear
benefit for the overall system efficiency.
1 The important conclusion is that the use of a soft
EON SWITCH = VDDIL t R recovery diode will introduce more switch-on losses
2
(2) in the diode itself, but save additional losses in the
1 1 1
+ VDD (IL + IRRM )t A + VDD ( IL + IRRM )t B semiconductor switch. When evaluating the
2 2 3
performance of a new diode, it is therefore
where IL is the load current and tR is the time necessary to look at both the diode and
interval between the start of switching and when the semiconductor switch performance, not just the
semiconductor switch provides the full load current. diode performance.
By setting tA and IRRM to zero, the equation for on- Another benefit of a soft switching diode is that
losses in the absence of reverse recovery is readily the dv/dt rate during time tB is much lower than for
obtained: a normal diode because tB is longer. High dv/dt can
cause ringing losses and extra EMI in a circuit.
1 1 Finally, soft recovery diodes generally have a
EON SWITCH = VDDIL t R + VDD ( IL )t B (3) lower IRRM than normal diodes.
2 2
In the absence of reverse recovery, equation (3)
can be rearranged in terms of the applied di/dt and
where in this case tB is the time interval between
dv/dt in the system:
when the semiconductor switch provides the full
load current and when the voltage across the switch
1 2 1 2
has dropped to the minimum value. VDDIL IL VDD
The extra EON loss attributable to the diode can be EON SWITCH = 2 + 2 (6)
di dv
calculated by subtracting the two equations:
dt dt
1 1
EON EXTRA = VDD (IL + IRRM )t A + VDD ( IRRM )t B (4) This equation will be used in later discussions.
2 3
Finally, it is important to note the effect of
A-25 Fairchild Power Seminar 2007
temperature on IRRM and tRR. While the forward speeds with ratings from 4A to 15A. All tests were
voltage of a diode decreases as temperature performed at a current of 4A.
increases, the parameters affecting switching Figure III-1 shows the experimental setup. The
characteristics, IRRM and tRR, both increase with diode under test is on the high side. The MOSFET
temperature. With reference to Figure II-2, the (or IGBT) is on the low side. Figure III-2 shows the
minority charge concentration will increase with waveforms needed to operate the circuit, taken
temperature, so it is to be expected that both IRRM when using an FQP9N50C MOSFET.
and tRR will also increase with temperature. First, the MOSFET is turned on until the test
Figure II-5 demonstrates these results for two current level in the inductor is reached. The
industry standard diodes. MOSFET is then switched off, causing the test
di/dt=200A/ms, Vdd=400V, If=8A, Tj=25°C
current to flow through the diode. Shortly
Two industry standard diodes
afterwards, the MOSFET is switched on to measure
the switch-on losses, and then switched off to
measure the switch-off losses. As the MOSFET was
only switched on for a very short time, the test
results apply to a junction temperature close to the
ambient room temperature of 25ºC.
The construction of the test set-up was on a
standard prototype board having no copper plating.
Results for Tj = 25°C Results for Tj = 125°C The devices under test were placed in sockets. The
Figure II-5: Comparison of reverse recovery performance sockets were connected together with short, low
for two industry standard diodes at Tj=25ºC and at Tj impedance connections. The results obtained are
=125ºC. Upper curve: ISL9R860P2, lower curve: 8A/600V comparable with those of a standard printed circuit
competitor part.
board layout.
III. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND BASIC MEASUREMENTS
reviewed. 70
60 Eon @ MUR1560
Eon @ RURP860
in Figure IV-1. 10
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Input Voltage [V]
Eon and Eoff losses of the FET - FQP9N50C vs Input Voltage
50
Figure IV-2: EON losses versus voltage for a wide range of
45
diodes
40
TABLE I
35
DIODES AND MOSFET BODY DIODES USED IN THE EVALUATION
Eon and Eoff Losses [uJ]
Eon @ ISL9R1560
30
Eoff @ ISL9R1560
Part Number Description
25 Eon @ ISL9R460
20
Eoff @ ISL9R460
FCP11N60F Fast recovery diode from 11A, 600V superjunction
MOSFET
15
FQP5N50CF Fast recovery diode from 5A, 500V planar
10 MOSFET
5
MUR1560 15A, Ultrafast (low speed) 600V Diode
RURP860 8A, Ultrafast (low speed) 600V Diode
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 RURD660 6A, Ultrafast (low speed) 600V Diode
Input Voltage [V] FFPF10UP60 10A, Ultrafast (low speed) 600V Diode
ISL9R1560 15A, Stealth (soft, high speed) 600V Diode
Figure IV-1: Comparison of EON and EOFF losses against RHRP860 8A, Hyperfast (medium speed) 600V Diode
ISL9R860 8A, Stealth (soft, high speed) 600V Diode
voltage for 4A and 15A Stealth™ diodes ISL9R460 4A, Stealth (soft, high speed) 600V Diode
SiC 6A 6A, Silicon Carbide, 600V Diode
dt dt 140
At 160 A/us, 20000V/us, 300V and 4A, the EON 100 Eon @ RHRP860
Eon @ ISL9R460
Eoff @ ISL9R460
60
reference to Figure IV-2 this accounts for a large
40
10
Reverse Recovery Current [A]
Irr @ FCP11N60F
8 Irr @ FQPF5N50CF
Irr @ RURD660
Irr @ RHRP860
6 Irr @ ISL9R460
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Current [A]
5
Irr @ MUR1560
10 45
9 40
8
35
Reverse Recovery Current Irr [A]
7
30
6
Eon Losses [uJ]
15
3
10
2
1 5
0 0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600
dI/dt [A/us] dI/dt [A/us]
Figure IV-6: Effect of di/dt on reverse recovery current Figure IV-7: Effect of di/dt on EON losses
(IRRM)
100
VI. CONCLUSION
90
Reverse recovery in diodes introduces small
80
losses in the diode but larger losses in the MOSFET
70
Etot at 300V
or IGBT which is switching the diode. These losses
Etot / Eon / Eoff losses [uJ]
Etot at 200V
60 Etot at 100V
50
Eoff at 300V
Eon at 300V
are influenced by the two reverse recovery
40
Eoff at 200V
Eon at 200V
Eoff at 100V
parameters IRRM and tRR.
30
Eon at 100V
From a system design perspective, there are three
20 aspects influencing the optimization of a half-bridge
10
structure: di/dt, diode choice and the possible
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 inclusion of a parallel capacitor.
Capacitance parallel to the Diode [pF]
Higher di/dt results in lower EON losses in the
Figure IV-12: Effect of adding parallel capacitance on EON, circuits tested, noting that higher di/dt increases
EOFF and total losses IRRM losses less than it decreases the normal
switching losses. So from perspective of switch and
diode losses, increasing di/dt is beneficial despite
V. PACKAGE RECOMMENDATIONS
the increase in IRRM.
The package size and type is an important The use of fast recovery diodes improves
parameter for the selection of diodes. While it is switching losses, but generally worsens conduction
beyond the scope of this paper to cover detailed losses. Larger current rated diodes of the same
thermal design, we would like to cover a couple of family have higher IRRM resulting in higher EON, and
points. a larger capacitance, resulting in lower EOFF. Over-
The maximum permissible junction temperature dimensioning of the diodes is not recommended as
is always specified for power switches and diodes, this leads to higher total switching losses.
and generally is 150ºC. In practice, designers will Addition of extra capacitance increases EON losses
design to 125ºC maximum junction temperature to but decreases EOFF losses. There is the possibility
provide a safety margin for increased system that an optimum total loss point will exist, meaning
robustness and reliability. that the addition of extra capacitance will reduce
Combining this information with experience on total losses. Designers of circuits using half-bridges
how packages are used with heatsinks, we provide should consider this possibility in their applications:
the following table as a guideline, for applications inclusion of a low cost capacitor may help improve
not using fans or forced convection: efficiency.