Using the TLP250 Isolated MOSFET Driver - Explanation and Exaple !

ir"#its
Ive already shown how to drive an N-channel MOSFET (or even an IGBT) in both hih-side
and low-side con!i"rations in a #"ltit"de o! ways$ Ive also e%&lained the &rinci&les o! drivin
the MOSFETs in these con!i"rations$ The dedicated drivers Ive shown so !ar are the T'()*
and I+),,-$ So#e &eo&le have re."ested #e to write "& on MOSFET drive "sin the very
&o&"lar T/0)1-$ 2nd Ill e%&lain that here$
The T/0)1-3 li4e any driver3 has an in&"t stae3 an o"t&"t stae and a &ower s"&&ly connection$
5hats s&ecial abo"t the T/0)1- is that the T/0)1- is an o&tically isolated driver3 #eanin that
the in&"t and o"t&"t are 6o&tically isolated7$ The isolation is o&tical 8 the in&"t stae is an /E9
and the receivin o"t&"t stae is liht sensitive (thin4 6&hotodetector7)$
Be!ore delvin any !"rther3 lets loo4 at the &in con!i"ration and the tr"th table$
Fi$ , - T/0)1- 0in 'on!i"ration
Fi$ ) - T/0)1- Tr"th Table
Fi$ , clearly shows the in&"t /E9 side and the receivin &hotodetector as well as the tote#-&ole
driver stae$ 0ins , and ( are not internally connected to anythin3 and hence are labeled N$'$
#eanin no connection$
0in : is ;'' 8 the &ositive s"&&ly$ 0in 1 is GN9 8 the ro"nd s"&&ly or the ret"rn &ath !or the
drivin &ower s"&&ly$ The s"&&ly voltae #"st be at least ,-;$ The #a%i#"# voltae is
de&endent on the o&eratin te#&erat"re$ I! the te#&erat"re is lower than *-<'3 "& to =-; can be
"sed$ For te#&erat"res between *-<' and :1<'3 "& to )-; can be "sed$ >owever3 there
sho"ldnt be a need to "se hiher than )-; anyways$ In #ost cases3 yo"ll be "sin ,); or ,1;
or &erha&s in so#e cases ,:;$
0ins ) and = are the in&"ts to the /E93 anode and cathode res&ectively$ /i4e re"lar /E9s3 it has
an in&"t !orward voltae and a &ea4 !orward c"rrent$ The !orward voltae will ty&ically be
between ,$?; and ,$:;$ The !orward c"rrent sho"ld be less than )-#2$ The threshold in&"t
c"rrent !or o"t&"t transition !ro# low to hih is ty&ically ,$)#23 b"t #ay be as hih as 1#2$
Th"s3 ,-#2 c"rrent sho"ld be ood$
Even tho"h &ins ? and * are shown to be internally connected3 the o"t&"t sho"ld be ta4en !ro#
&in ? as the i#ae - datasheet - shows &in ? labeled as ;o (O"t&"t)$ O"t&"t voltae will tend to
rise to s"&&ly voltae when hih (it will act"ally be slihtly lower) and !all to ro"nd level when
low$
The T/0)1-3 bein an o&tically isolated driver3 has relatively slow &ro&aation delays (not to
say that o&tically isolated drivers cant be !ast@ there are o&tically isolated drivers !aster than
T/0)1-)$ The &ro&aation delay ti#e will ty&ically lie between -$,1As and -$1As$ 2n i#&ortant
thin to re#e#ber is that the datasheet s&eci!ies the #a%i#"# o&eratin !re."ency to be )14>B$
Ive "sed the T/0)1- !or !re."encies "& to abo"t ,?4>B$
That covers the di!!erent &ara#eters related to T/0)1-$ Now lets o to the desin stae and
loo4 at a !ew circ"its$ One thin yo" MCST re#e#ber to do when desinin circ"its with
T/0)1- is that3 a -$,AF by&ass ca&acitor (cera#ic ca&acitor) sho"ld be connected between ;D
(&in :) and ;- (&in 1)$ This ca&acitor stabiliBes the o&eration o! the hih ain linear a#&li!ier in
the T/0)1-$ Fail"re to &rovide this ca&acitor #ay i#&air the switchin &ro&erty$ The ca&acitor
sho"ld be &laced as close to the T/0)1- as &ossible$ The closer3 the better$
Fi$ = - Non-Invertin Isolated /ow-Side MOSFET 9river
Fi$ = shows a ty&ical circ"it !or "sin the T/0)1- as a MOSFET driver$ ;IN is the in&"t drive
sinal that dictates the o"t&"t state$ +e#e#ber that ;IN is re!erenced to Sinal Gro"nd$ 2nd that
the T/0)1- ro"nd and load ro"nd are re!erenced to the &ower ro"nd3 ie ;s"&&ly and ;MOS
share the sa#e re!erence ro"nd as can clearly be seen !ro# the circ"it diara# and this ro"nd
is se&arate !ro# Sinal Gro"nd$ This clearly ill"strates the isolation in MOSFET drive as the
drivin sinal is isolated !ro# the load s"&&ly$
5hen ;IN E ,3 F, is driven !ro# the s"&&ly voltae (;s"&&ly) 8 the ate is &"lled "& to
;s"&&ly level$ F, t"rns on and c"rrent !lows thro"h the load 8 the load is driven !ro# ;MOS
via the MOSFET$
5hen ;IN E -3 F, is driven low 8 the ate is &"lled down to its so"rce level$ F, t"rns o!! and
the load is o!!$
;s"&&ly co"ld be between ,-; and ,1; 8 ,); bein a very co##on level "sed$ +, sho"ld be
calc"lated by yo" de&endin on the a#&lit"de o! the in&"t sinal$ Ill ive an e%a#&le to clearly
show yo" how (i! yo" dont 4now that already)$
Ive said above that ,-#2 (E -$-,2) !or the !orward c"rrent !or the /E9 is a ood val"e to "se$
So Ill ta4e that$ /ets say that the T/0)1- is bein driven !ro# a #icrocontroller and the
a#&lit"de !or the sinal is 1;$ Ive said above that the !orward voltae !or the /E9 wo"ld
ty&ically be between ,$?; and ,$:; 8 Ill ta4e it to be ,$:; !or this e%a#&le$
So3 ; E (1$- 8 ,$:); E =$);
; E I+
+ E ;GI E =$);G(-$-,2) E =)-H
+) is the ate resistor$ I! yo"re c"rio"s abo"t why I "sed +=3 read hereI
htt&IGGtah#id#c$blos&ot$co#G)-,)G,-G#aic-o!-4nowlede$ht#l
', is the deco"&lin ca&acitor I tal4ed abo"t above$ This MCST always be "sed and MCST not
be o#itted$ Ive added ') !or !ilterinGs#oothin3 as a b"l4 ca&acitor$
/ets loo4 at a !ew #ore circ"itsI
Fi$ ( - Invertin Isolated /ow-Side MOSFET 9river
This circ"it in Fi$ ( is si#ilar to the above circ"it in Fi$ =3 with the di!!erence bein that the
circ"it in Fi$ = shows a non-invertin driver (;IN E , drives the MOSFET on and ;IN E -
drives the MOSFET o!!) whereas Fi$ ( shows an invertin driver (;IN E - drives the MOSFET
on and ;IN E , drives the MOSFET o!!)$ >ow this has been con!i"red to be an invertin driver
is e%tre#ely si#&le to "nderstand 8 the /E9 now t"rns on when ;IN E - and t"rns o!! when
;IN E ,$ /i4e Fi$ =3 Fi$ ( also shows an isolated driverI D;S is isolated !ro# ;s"&&ly and
;MOS$
Fi$ 1 - Non-Invertin Non-Isolated /ow-Side MOSFET 9river
Fi$ 1 shows a non-invertin non-isolated driver$ By shortin Sinal Gro"nd and 0ower Gro"nd3
isolation has been otten rid o!$ ;s"&&ly and ;MOS share the sa#e ro"nd as the sinal ro"nd
to which ;IN is re!erenced$
Fi$ ? - Non-Invertin Isolated >ih-Side MOSFET 9river
Fi$ ? shows the T/0)1- bein "sed as a hih-side driver$ >ere in this circ"it3 there are =
6ro"nds7 8 that o! the sinal ro"nd to which ;IN is re!erenced3 that o! ;s"&&ly and that o!
;MOS$
5hen ;IN E ,3 F, ate is &"lled "& to the level o! ;s"&&ly (with res&ect to so"rce)$ Since this is
above the level o! the so"rce (which is connected to ;s"&&ly ret"rnGro"nd)3 the MOSFET t"rns
on and there is a c"rrent !ro# ;MOS thro"h F, thro"h the load3 t"rnin the load on$
5hen ;IN E -3 F, ate is &"lled down to the level o! so"rce and F, is t"rned o!!$ There is no
c"rrent thro"h the load and the load is o!!$
By havin the MOSFET so"rce share the sa#e ro"nd as the T/0)1- drive section and 4ee&in
this ro"nd se&arate !ro# the ;MOS ro"nd3 ;s"&&ly is easily "sed by the T/0)1- to drive the
MOSFET o&eratin as a hih-side switch$
2nd thats it$ The T/0)1- is a "se!"l little chi&3 #a4in isolated MOSFET drive e%tre#ely
si#&le$ One last note is that while IJve shown the circ"its !or MOSFET drive3 they can easily be
"sed (with the sa#e circ"it) !or IGBT drive (o! co"rse3 yo" re&lace the MOSFET with the
IGBT)$
I ho&e that #y e%&lanation o! the a&&lication o! the T/0)1- and the circ"it e%a#&les I &rovided
hel& yo" in desinin yo"r own circ"its "sin the T/0)1- !or o&tically isolated MOSFET (or
IGBT) drive$ Feel !ree to &ost yo"r co##ents3 !eedbac4 and s"estionsK