Hello.
I am designing using LM7480, to meet the MIL-STD-1275E condition.
My equipment requires higher power consumption than the LM7480 design proposed by Texas.
Select MOSFET in proportion to the high current.
Few MOSFETs meet the specifications.
The problem is
Can MOSFET be connected to LM7480 IC in parallel and used?
If possible, is there any material designed using MOSFET in parallel in TI?
Thank you for your response.
Hi
Yes, MOSFETs can be used in parallel configuration. Here are the effects.
First, FET turn on and off time will be increased.
Considering the constant Gate source current and sink current of an Ideal Diode controller. As the number of FETs in parallel increases the turn ON and turn OFF time of the FETs increases due to increase in total gate capacitance.
Approximate calculation can be done as shown:
For Turn ON time calculation, Ton = (Total Ciss) x 5V / peak source current
For Turn OFF time calculation, Toff = (Total Ciss) x 5V / peak sink current
N x FETs will have a total Ciss of N x Ciss (individual)
As an example, Let us consider DMTH43M8LFG as the FET and LM74700-Q1 as the FET controller.
DMTH43M8LFG
LM74700-Q1
4x DMTH43M8LFG FETs have a total Ciss of 4 x 2.798 nF = 11.2 nF
So, the Ton time = (11.2nF) x 5V / 11mA = 5.09 us
and Toff = (11.2nF ) x 5V / 2.3A= 24.3 ns
Similarly, For controllers with back-to-back FET driving capability, same implies to FETs controlled by HGATE also. HGATEs have low charging current on purpose to control the inrush current. By paralleling the FETs turn on time will increase further. Also, it is recommended to use a resistor in series with each FET gate of around 5-10ohms to dampen the oscillations (if any) due to FET parasitic.
Looking at the calculations, decisions can be made on 2 levels to get optimal turn on and turn off time.
1. Effective Ciss of FETs
2. FET controller.
Second, AC super imposed rectification performance.
The maximum AC super imposed signal that an Ideal Diode can rectify depends on then FET used and the charge pump current strength. For more understanding on this please refer to the Application Report.
Here, Qgm will increase proportional to the increase in number of FETs and hence maximum frequency that can be rectified will decrease.
As an example,
LM74700-Q1 with 1xDMTH43M8LFG can rectify up to 25KHz whereas with 4x DMTH43M8LFG FETs can rectify only up to 6KHz.
Thirdly, as effective Ciss has increased, charge pump capacitor also has to be scaled accordingly.
Regards,
Shiven Dhir
