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MOSFETDesignBasicsYouNeedToKnow(Part2)
ElectronicDesign
PaulSchimel
PaulSchimel
Thu,20100422(Allday)

InPart1wediscussedthebodydiode,whichisaPNjunctiondiodethatliesinsideoftheMOSFET,between
thenregioninthedrainandthePwellinthesource.NotunlikeanyotherPNjunction(Fig.1),thecarriers
mustrecombineforthedevicetoturnoff,whichtakestime.

Itsimportanttounderstandhowthisdiodeworksinapplicationssuchassynchronousbuckconvertersand
halfandfullbridgeconverters.WhenperusingaMOSFETdatasheet,keybodydiodecharacteristicsto
considerarethedevicestrrandQrrandthetestconditionsunderwhichtheyweremeasured.

OftheapplicationsIvehandled,theonewiththemostissuesisinthelowsideswitchofthesynchronous
buckconverter,alsocalledthefreewheelswitchorsyncFET.Underheavyload,whenthehighsideswitch
turnsoff,theinductorfreewheelsthroughthebodydiodeofthelowsideMOSFET.Thisisalossymode,
whichmostcontrollersattempttominimizebyquicklyenhancingorturningonthelowsideswitch.
However,theeventstilloccursforashorttime.

Shortlyafterthebodydiodeisforwardbiased,theMOSFETswitcheson.Atthistime,thebodydiodemust
beturnedoffandthecurrentmustflowthroughthechannelofthedevice.TheMOSFETsreverserecovery
currentthenflowsthroughthechannelofthedevicealongwiththefreewheelcurrentfromtheinductor.
ThisaddedcurrentcannegativelyimpactthesafeoperatingareaorSOAofthedevice.

Atthispoint,theonlyoptionseemstobechoosingadevicewithlowerQrrand/ortrr.Nottrue.Wecanputa
devicewithalowerVFinparallelwiththebodydiodesothefreewheelcurrentflowsthroughthelowerVF
andnotthebodydiode.

MOSFETswithbuiltinSchottkydiodes,calledFETkeys,offeranintrinsicSchottkydiodeinparallelwiththe
bodydiodeoftheMOSFETthataccomplishestheverysame.TheSchottkysVFisfarlessthanthatofthe
PNjunction.Thus,theSchottkyconductsthefreewheelcurrentaroundthebodydiode.Thisexchangesthe
bodydiodereverserecoveryeventforafastereventintheSchottkywithfarlessQrr.(Rememberthata
Schottkyisamajoritycarrierdevicetheresnothingtorecombine!)

InhighervoltageapplicationswhereFETkeysarentforthcoming,wecanplaceadiscreteSchottkyof
equivalentorhighervoltageratinginparallelwiththebodydiodewithminimalinductance.Ifthisalleviates
theproblem,youlikelyhaveabodydiodeQrrproblem.

AVALANCHE

Theeasiestwaytoexplainavalancheistouseasimpleflybacktypeconverter(Fig.2).Forthesakeof
discussion,letsassumethattheRCDclampstructureusedtominimizethevoltagespikesacrossthe
switchingMOSFETisntincircuit.Also,thenodebetweentheMOSFETsdrainandtheprimaryinductor
(theswitchnode)isunclamped.
Whentheswitchisturnedon,webeginrampingupacurrentintheprimaryinductorasperV=Ldi/dt.
Whentheswitchturnsoff,thepolarityofthevoltagedropacrosstheinductorchangesinstantaneously,
addingtotheB+voltagewhenviewedfromtheswitchnode.Theinductorwillflybacktoavoltagehigh
enoughtomaintaincurrentflowanddischargetheprimaryinductance.

Withanunclampedswitchnode,andaMOSFETVDS voltageclosetoorslightlyabovetheB+voltage,we
willseeavalanche(Fig.3).TheavalanchesignatureiswhenthevoltageacrosstheMOSFETrisesupquickly
andthenclipsatsomepotentialabovetheVDSratingofthedevice(usually110%to115%ofVDS rating).
ClippingoccurswhenthebreakdownvoltageoftheMOSFETsinternalbodydiodelimitsthevoltage
excursion.
Asfurtherevidence,theslopeoftheflattopofthewaveformwillincreaseslightlyovertheclippedinterval
andpossiblyfromoneintervaltothenext(iftheresrepetitiveswitching).Thisincreasingslopecorresponds
tothepositivecoefficientoftheinternalbodydiodesbreakdownvoltage.

Avalanchecanalsooccurwithparasiticinductances.Forexample,alargesolenoidormotorwillexperience
asimilarvoltagespikewhenopeningtheswitchwithanunclampedload.

Thisisallprettystraightforwardandtherearesomemagnificentarticlesandappnotesthatdiscuss
avalancheratingsanddesignproceduresingreatdetail.So,insteadofrepeatingthatinformation,Idliketo
makeafewsuggestionsoncomparingMOSFETavalancheratingsfromdatasheetvalues.

Inthebadolddays,loadsswitchedinanunclampedfashionwerelikelylargeinductiveloadsperhapsa
300mHlumpedinductanceseriesmotoronamoonroofina78LincolnTownCar,ora500mHsolenoid
onanolderelectricdoorlockplunger.Asaresult,theinductancevaluesusedtotestandspecifythoseparts
werelarger.Theseare,infact,specifiedinthedatasheetinthenotesthatappeararoundtheavalanche
ratings.
Fastforwardtothepresent.Wenowseeloadsforfuelinjectorsandtransmissionsolenoidsofjustafew
microhenries.Asaresult,newerMOSFETsusemuchsmallertestinductorsforavalanchetesting.Thenew
devicesalsonotethesevaluesinthedatasheets.Whatsimportanthereistounderstandthedifferencewhen
comparingMOSFETssidebysideforavalancheratings.

Olderdeviceswithlargerinductorshadrelativelyslowavalancheevents.Theinductancewaslarge,soittook
longertoramptothetestcurrentandLI2 /2energylevel.Thesetypesofavalancheratingsusuallypushed
thethermallimitsofthepartandlittleelse.Thecurrentdidntramphighenoughtostressbondwires,etc.

NewMOSFETsuseamuchsmallertestinductance.Thecurrentrampsupmuchmorequicklytothetest
value,andthetestcurrentismuchhigher.AvalancheratingsofthesepartsareusuallydeterminedbytheI2 t
valueofthebondwires,whichisafastermechanismthanthethermallimitofthepart.Whencomparedside
byside,thenewerFETswilllookliketheyhaveaseverelyreducedavalancheratingwhencomparedtothe
olderdevices.Weneedtocarefullyconsidertheconditionsoftheavalanchetestbeforereaching
conclusionsonwhichpartmaybebetterforagivenapplication.

LINEARMODE

Whenitcomestolinearmode,mostdatasheetsdontdepictwhatstrulygoingonintheirSOAcurves.An
SOAcurveisalog/logplotwithVDS onthehorizontalaxisandIDontheverticalaxis.Thiscurvedescribes
theforwardbiasedcharacteristicsoftheMOSFET.Apositiveslopeof1decade(I)/decade(V)correspondsto
aconstantresistance,andanegativeslopeof1decadeperdecadecorrespondstoaconstantpower.
Atverylowvoltages,thedevicesimplycantconducttheratedcurrentduetotheRDS(on)ofthechanneland
thelowVDS .ThisconstantRDS(on)lineformsthefirstpartoftheSOAcurve(Fig.4).Thesecondpartofthe
curveshowsthedevicesmaximumcurrentthreshold.Thethirdpartofthecurve,whichdepictstheconstant
powerthatthedevicecanhandle,hasa1decade(I)/decade(V)slope.Thefourthpartofthecurveisnever
discussedordepicted,otherthaninthenewerIRdatasheets.Thissegmenthasanegativeslopeofgreater
thantheconstantpower.Infact,italmostlookslikesecondbreakdowninabipolarjunctiontransistor
(BJT),onlyitisnot.Rather,devicestabilityisshownthevoltagesarehighandthecurrentsarelowerthan
themaximumrating.

Mostswitchmodedevicescompletelyavoidthisstateviaconverteroperation.Inaswitchingpowersupply,
thedeviceiseitherintheonstate,withlowVDS andhighcurrents(upperleftontheSOAcurve),oritisoff.
Forthelatter,iteitherblockssothebodydiodeisreversebiased,thecurrentsarelow,andthevoltages
high(lowerrightontheSOAcurve)orthebodydiodeisconducting,creatingalownegativeVDS andhigh
currents(notdepictedontheforwardbiasedSOAcurveatall).

ThesecondbreakpointoftheSOAcurveshowstheSpiritoboundary.Inthemid1990s,ItalianresearcherP.
SpiritodiscoveredthatMOSFETswerefailingathighervoltageandlowercurrentdatapoints,eventhough
theyfellwellwithintheSOAcurve.Thisinflectionpointisduetomicroscopicdeviceproperties.Ifapower
MOSFETconsistsofmanythousandsofcellsinparallel,weextensivelyemploymetallizationtoensureeach
cellhasthesameVDS andVGS voltages.

Oneparameterthatdoesvaryslightlyfromcelltocellisgain.Ifthegainofacellishigher,thiswontbeseen
whenwedrivethedeviceintosaturation.However,itcanbeseeninlinearmode.Thecellwithhighergain
willhavehigherdraincurrent,whichwillcauselocalizedheating.Asthedeviceheatsupandthresholds
drop,thermalrunawaymayoccur,whichwasthecentralthemeofSpiritoswork.

Runawayisntanissuewithsaturateddevices,sincetheysharecurrentverywellbetweencells.Older,planar
technologydevicesaresafe,too.Theyfeaturelowercelldensitiesandlowergains,therebyspreadingthe
heatoverlargerareasanddesensitizingthedevicetorunawayconditioninlinearmode.

Itsamouthful,butthepointissimple:Olderplanardevices(Fig.5)arebettersuitedforlinearoperation
thantrenchdevices.Thisisbestillustratedasidebysidecomparisonofthreedifferentprocess
technologiesanolderplanarprocess,anewerplanarprocess,andatrenchprocess.Foradeviceinlinear
modewithconstantVGS ,ID,andtemperature,increasedtemperature(withVGS heldconstant)andrising
currentresultsinthermalrunawayandinstability.Conversely,lesseningcurrentwithincreasing
temperatureresultsinastabledevicethatswellsuitedforlinearoperation.

Lookingatthecurves,weseeaclearcrossoverpointfortheearlyplanardevice,afterwhichheatingcauses
thesameorlesscurrentforagivenVGS .Thisdoesntoccurwiththenewerplanardeviceandthetrench
device.Thenewerplanarandtrenchdevicesarentsuitableforhotswaporlinearregulation,sincetheywill
runawayinlinearmode.

Hotswap,activeORing,andlinearapplicationsrequireplanarFETs.Butthedatasheetsdonttelluswhich
devicesweremadeinwhichprocess.Thisispointwhereyougrabholdofyourlocalfieldapplication
engineer,whocanprovidethatinformation.Iveseenhundredsofapplicationswhereatrenchdeviceis
appliedasalowdropout(LDO)orhotswapcontroller,onlytohavecatastrophicfailureswellwithinthe
purportedSOAofthedevice.Wecanhelpyoufindtherightpartforthejob!

Fromcapacitiveturnonmechanismstolinearmodesofoperation,wevecertainlycoveredalotofmaterial.
Thisoverviewshouldassistmostbenchtroubleshootingandprototypework.WhileIdidntquantifyalotof
parametersandguidelines,Ididmakeanhonestattempttoexplainthemainmechanisms,interactions,and
possiblefixes.UntilIcompiledthis,Ihadntrunacrossanythingcollectiveonallofthedifferentquirksof
MOSFETs,althoughIveseenarticlesonmostofthetopics,especiallyavalancheandCdv/dtturnon
mechanisms.Whetherdesigningadcdcconverterorahotswapcircuit,thismaterialisapplicableonall
levelsfrommilliwattstomegavoltamps.

SourceURL:http://electronicdesign.com/power/mosfetdesignbasicsyouneedknowpart2