
AN-31
16
B
4/03
voltage spike may exceed the rated gate voltage for Q1. This
behavior can occur in any design using this form of synchronous
rectification with an undervoltage lockout. It is not specific to
DPA-Switch
. A solution to this issue is offered below.
Winding Driven AC Coupled Synchronous Rectifier
The AC coupled circuit of Figure 12 (b) eliminates the high
voltage spike by limiting the on-time of Q2 such that significant
reverse current cannot flow through L2 and the secondary
winding. Capacitor C7 should be chosen to capacitively divide
the winding voltage between C7 and the C
of MOSFET Q2,
to provide a voltage on C
that exceeds the Q2 threshold
voltage. The time constant of C17 and R2 should be about 10
μ
s
for 300 kHz operation. R1 is typically about 10
.
Figure 11 shows the
DPA-Switch
in a single-ended DC-DC
forward converter that uses winding driven AC coupled
synchronous rectification. In this example, the gate of Q1 has
enough capacitance to eliminate the need for the discrete
capacitor C
in the transformer reset circuit. Although this is
often the case with synchronous rectifiers that are winding
driven, designers should follow the guidance in the section on
Verification of Transformer Reset to confirm that the transformer
resets properly.
Actively Driven Synchronous Rectifiers
The third category of synchronous rectifier circuits uses
independent active components that may include discrete devices
and integrated circuits to lock onto the switching frequency of
the power supply and to drive the MOSFETs. This solution
relaxes the restriction on the range of input voltage because the
driver can regulate the gate voltage to be independent of the
voltage on the secondary winding. Circuits for actively driven
synchronous rectifiers are much more complex than the other
solutions, and are beyond the scope of this application note.
Table 4 gives a comparison of the techniques for synchronous
rectification.
In general,
DPA-Switch
with synchronous rectifiers should
operate at the lower switching frequency of 300 kHz. The
synchronous rectifier catch MOSFETs typically have gate-
source capacitance values such that the transformer would have
Winding Driven DC Coupled
Winding Driven AC Coupled
Active Drive
Check Gate Voltage at Power Down
Gate Voltage Controlled at Power Down
High Complexity
Table 4. Comparison of Synchronous Rectification Techniques.
insufficient time to reset at 400 kHz. Connect the F pin to the
CONTROL pin to select the lower switching frequency.
Layout Considerations
Figure 13 shows an example of a proper circuit board layout for
a forward converter with
DPA-Switch
. Since the
DPA-Switch
can operate with large drain current, designers should follow
these guidelines carefully.
Primary Side Connections
The tab of
DPA-Switch
is the intended return connection for the
high switching currents. Therefore, the tab should be connected
by wide, low impedance traces to the input capacitor. The
SOURCE pin should not be used to return the power currents;
incorrect operation of the device may result. The SOURCE pin
is intended as a signal ground only. The device tab (SOURCE)
is the correct connection for power currents.
The bypass capacitor on the CONTROL pin should be located
as close as possible to the SOURCE and CONTROL pins. The
circuit trace of its connection to SOURCE should not contain
any switching current from the primary or bias voltages. All
SOURCE pin referenced components connected to the LINE-
SENSE (L) or EXTERNAL CURRENT LIMIT (X) pins should
also be located closely between their respective pins and
SOURCE. Once again, the SOURCE connection trace of these
components should not conduct any of the main MOSFET
switching currents. It is critical that tab (SOURCE) power
switching currents are returned to the negative terminal of the
input capacitor through a separate trace that is not shared by the
components connected to the SOURCE, CONTROL, L or X
pins.
Any traces to the L or X pins should be kept as short as possible
and away from the drain trace to prevent noise coupling. Line-
sense resistor (R1 in Figure 11) should be located close to the
L pin to minimize the trace length on the L pin side. In addition
to the CONTROL pin capacitor (C5 in Figure 11), a 220 nF high
frequency bypass capacitor in parallel is recommended as close
as possible between SOURCE and CONTROL pins for better
noise immunity. The feedback optocoupler output should also
be located close to the CONTROL and SOURCE pins of
DPA-Switch.
Synchronous Rectifier Type
Comment
Efficiency
Complexity
and Cost