ADP3120A

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5

APPLICATIONS INFORMATION

Theory of Operation

The ADP3120A are single phase MOSFET drivers

designed for driving two N−channel MOSFETs in a

synchronous buck converter topology. The ADP3120A will

operate from 5.0 V or 12 V, but have been optimized for high

current multi−phase buck regulators that convert 12 V rail

directly to the core voltage required by complex logic chips.

A single PWM input signal is all that is required to properly

drive the high−side and the low−side MOSFETs. Each driver

is capable of driving a 3 nF load at frequencies up to 1 MHz.

Low−Side Driver

The low−side driver is designed to drive a

voltage rail for the low−side driver is internally connected to

High−Side Driver

The high−side driver is designed to drive a floating low

side driver is developed by a bootstrap circuit referenced to

Switch Node (SW) pin.

The bootstrap circuit is comprised of an external diode,

and an external bootstrap capacitor. When the ADP3120A

are starting up, the SW pin is at ground, so the bootstrap

See Figure 4. When the PWM input goes high, the high−side

driver will begin to turn on the high−side MOSFET using the

stored charge of the bootstrap capacitor. As the high−side

MOSFET turns on, the SW pin will rise. When the high−side

MOSFET is fully on, the switch node will be at 12 V, and the

BST pin will be at 12 V plus the charge of the bootstrap

capacitor (approaching 24 V).

The bootstrap capacitor is recharged when the switch

node goes low during the next cycle.

Safety Timer and Overlap Protection Circuit

It is very important that MOSFETs in a synchronous buck

regulator do not both conduct at the same time. Excessive

shoot−through or cross conduction can damage the

MOSFETs, and even a small amount of cross conduction

will cause a decrease in the power conversion efficiency.

The ADP3120A prevent cross conduction by monitoring

the status of the external mosfets and applying the

appropriate amount of “dead−time” or the time between the

turn off of one MOSFET and the turn on of the other

MOSFET.

When the PWM input pin goes high, DRVL will go low

after a propagation delay (tpdlDRVL). The time it takes for

the low−side MOSFET to turn off (tfDRVL) is dependent on

the total charge on the low−side MOSFET gate. The

ADP3120A monitor the gate voltage of both MOSFETs and

the switchnode voltage to determine the conduction status of

the MOSFETs. Once the low−side MOSFET is turned off an

internal timer will delay (tpdhDRVH) the turn on of the

high−side MOSFET

Likewise, when the PWM input pin goes low, DRVH will

go low after the propagation delay (tpdDRVH). The time to

turn off the high−side MOSFET (tfDRVH) is dependent on

the total gate charge of the high−side MOSFET. A timer will

be triggered once the high−side mosfet has stopped

conducting, to delay (tpdhDRVL) the turn on of the

low−side MOSFET

Power Supply Decoupling

The ADP3120A can source and sink relatively large

currents to the gate pins of the external MOSFETs. In order

ESR capacitor should be placed near the power and ground

pins. A 1

mF to 4.7 mF multi layer ceramic capacitor (MLCC)

is usually sufficient.

Input Pins

The PWM input and the Output Disable pins of the

ADP3120A have internal protection for Electro Static

Discharge (ESD), but in normal operation they present a

relatively high input impedance. If the PWM controller does

not have internal pulldown resistors, they should be added

externally to ensure that the driver outputs do not go high

before the controller has reached its under voltage lockout

threshold. The NCP5381 controller does include a passive

internal pulldown resistor on the drive−on output pin.

Bootstrap Circuit

The bootstrap circuit uses a charge storage capacitor

these components can be done after the high−side MOSFET

has been chosen. The bootstrap capacitor must have a

voltage rating that is able to withstand twice the maximum

supply voltage. A minimum 50 V rating is recommended.

The capacitance is determined using the following equation:

CBST +

QGATE

DVBST

MOSFET, and

high−side MOSFET drive. For example, a NTD60N03 has

a total gate charge of about 30 nC. For an allowed droop of

300 mV, the required bootstrap capacitance is 100 nF. A

good quality ceramic capacitor should be used.

The bootstrap diode must be rated to withstand the

maximum supply voltage plus any peak ringing voltages

that may be present on SW. The average forward current can

be estimated by:

IF(AVG) + QGATE

fMAX

controller. The peak surge current rating should be checked

in−circuit, since this is dependent on the source impedance