APPLICATIONS INFORMATION
V
GS
. For 5V input, use the R
DS(ON)
specified at
4.5V V
GS
. At the time of this publication, ven-
dors, such as Fairchild, Siliconix and Interna-
tional Rectifier, have started to specify R
DS(ON)
at V
GS
less than 3V. This data is necessary for
designs where the MOSFETs are driven with
3.3V.
Thermal calculation must be conducted to en-
sure the MOSFET can handle the maximum
load current. The junction temperature of the
MOSFET, determined as follows, must stay
below the maximum rating.
forward voltage. The reverse voltage across the
diode is equal to input voltage, and the diode
must be able to handle the peak current equal to
the maximum load current.
The power dissipation of the Schottky diode is
determined by
P
DIODE
= 2V
F
I
OUT
T
NOL
F
S
where
T
NOL
= non-overlap time between G
L
and G
H
.
V
F
= forward voltage of the Schottky diode.
COMP
®
T
J
( max)
=
T
A
(max)
+
where
P
MOSFET
(max)
R
θ
JA
,
C2
R1
SP6123
C1
T
A(max)
= maximum ambient temperature
P
MOSFET(max)
= maximum power dissipation of
the MOSFET
R
θJA
= junction to ambient thermal resistance.
R
θJA
of the device depends greatly on the board
layout, as well as device package. Significant
thermal improvement can be achieved in the maxi-
mum power dissipation through the proper design
of copper mounting pads on the circuit board. For
example, in a SO-8 package, placing two 0.04
square inches copper pad directly under the pack-
age, without occupying additional board space,
can increase the maximum power dissipation from
approximately 1 to 1.2W. For DPAK package,
enlarging the tap mounting pad to 1 square inches
reduces the R
θJA
from 96°C/W to 40°C/W.
Schottky Diode Selection
Figure 1. The RC network connected to the COMP pin
provides a pole and a zero to control loop.
Loop Compensation Design
The goal of loop compensation is to manipulate
loop frequency response such that its gain crosses
over 0db at a slope of -20db/dec. The SP6123
has a transconductance error amplifier and re-
quires the compensation network to be con-
nected between the COMP pin and ground, as
shown in Figure 1.
The first step of compensation design is to pick
the loop crossover frequency. High crossover
frequency is desirable for fast transient response,
but often jeopardize the system stability. Cross-
over frequency should be higher than the ESR
zero but less than 1/5 of the switching fre-
quency. The ESR zero is contributed by the ESR
associated with the output capacitors and can be
determined by
f
Z(ESR)
=
1
2
π
C
OUT
R
ESR
When paralleled with the bottom MOSFET, an
optional Schottky diode can improve efficiency
and reduce noise. Without this Schottky diode,
the body diode of the bottom MOSFET con-
ducts the current during the non-overlap time
when both MOSFETs are turned off. Unfortu-
nately, the body diode has high forward voltage
and reverse recovery problem. The reverse re-
covery of the body diode causes additional
switching noises when the diode turns off. The
Schottky diode alleviates this noise and addi-
tionally improves efficiency thanks to its low
Date: 5/25/04
Crossover frequency of 20kHz is a sound first
try if low ESR tantalum capacitors or POSCAPs
are used at the output. The next step is to calcu-
late the complex conjugate poles contributed by
the LC output filter,
© Copyright 2004 Sipex Corporation
SP6123 Low Voltage, Synchronous Step Down PWM Controller
12
SIPEX [ SIPEX CORPORATION ]
