Synchronous MOSFET controller

8 February 2012 Power Electronics / Power Management

Diodes Incorporated has extended its family of dedicated synchronous MOSFET controllers with the 25 V rated ZXGD3104N8 designed for notebook and laptop power supply designs of 90 W and above.

The mandatory drive to increase power supply efficiency means that the secondary side Schottky diode begins to dominate the losses. Replacing this lossy diode with a low Rds(on) MOSFET and controlling with the ZXGD3104N8 increases overall PSU efficiency through a reduction in rectifier losses.

Intended for operating in flyback converters, the ZXGD3104N8 is designed to control and switch the MOSFET at optimum performance while minimising switching and on-state losses. As a result, the controller helps power supplies more easily attain the 87% Energy Star V2.0 rating.

With its wide operating voltage range of 5 to 25 V, this SO8 packaged MOSFET controller is able to be directly powered from the adapters’ 19 V supply rail, while ensuring sufficient headroom in the event of transient over-voltage conditions. Combined with the device’s direct 180 V MOSFET drain sense capability obviating the need for an external clamp circuit, this means designers can reduce component count and save space.

The ZXGD3104N8’s proportional gate drive operation guards against premature MOSFET turn-off as the drain current decays to zero, thereby maximising circuit efficiency by ensuring body diode conduction losses are minimised. This, combined with the short turn-off propagation delay of typically 15 ns, helps to maximise power supply circuit efficiency.

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