APW7073A
Layout Consideration
Layout Consideration
In any high switching frequency converter, a correct layout
is important to ensure proper operation of the regulator.
With power devices switching at 300kHz, the resulting
current transient will cause voltage spike across
the interconnecting impedance and parasitic circuit
elements. As an example, consider the turn-off transition
of the PWM MOSFET. Before turn-off, the MOSFET is
carrying the full load current. During turn-off, current
stops flowing in the MOSFET and is free-wheeling by
the lower MOSFET and parasitic diode. Any parasitic
inductance of the circuit generates a large voltage spike
during the switching interval. In general, using short, wide,
and printed circuit traces should minimize interconnect-
ing impedances and the magnitude of voltage spike.
And signal and power grounds are to be kept separating
till combined using ground plane construction or single
point grounding. Figure 10 illustrates the layout, with
bold lines indicating high current paths; these traces
must be short and wide. Components along the bold
lines should be placed lose together. Below is a check-
list for your layout:
- Keep the switching nodes (UGATE, LGATE, and
PHASE) away from sensitive small signal nodes
since these nodes are fast moving signals. Therefore,
keep traces to these nodes as short as possible.
- The traces from the gate drivers to the MOSFETs
(UGATE, LGATE) should be short and wide.
- Place the source of the high-side MOSFET and the
drain of the low-side MOSFET as close as possible.
Minimizing the impedance with wide layout plane
between the two pads reduces the voltage bounce of
the node.
- Decoupling capacitor, compensation component,
the resistor dividers, boot capacitors, and SS capacitors
should be close their pins. (For example, place the
decoupling ceramic capacitor near the drain of the
high-side MOSFET as close as possible. The bulk
capacitors are also placed near the drain).
- The input capacitor should be near the drain of the
upper MOSFET; the output capacitor should be near
the loads. The input capacitor GND should be close
to the output capacitor GND and the lower MOSFET
GND.
- The drain of the MOSFETs (VIN and PHASE nodes)
should be a large plane for heat sinking.
APW7073A
VCC
PVCC
BOOT
UGATE
PHASE
LGATE
VIN
L
O
A
D
VOUT
Figure 10. Layout Guidelines
Copyright © ANPEC Electronics Corp.
15
Rev. A.5 - Nov., 2012
www.anpec.com.tw