CataM
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I do not get this. If some amount of energy when the xtor turns OFF goes into Coss, then the same amount when the xtor turns ON will go into the xtor, giving a null net balance of energy lost in the xtor due to Coss. The energy does not care about the frequency.Say Coss is 1nF and you are turning off 20A i/c = dv/dt, the drain will reach 400V say in 40nS, for an average 10A (half of the 20A) the small amount of power that goes into Coss every 40nS rather than dissipated in the xtor can be largely ignored except at very high switching freqs
I think this is where you're tripping up. No, the charge/energy in Coss does not come from the FET. It ultimately comes from your Vin or Vout, and some of that energy is lost when the FET turns on. FETs cannot source energy (at least at steady state), they can only dissipate it.-During turn OFF, throughout the drain-source voltage switching instance, when we assume the drain current stays constant, the Coss capacitor is being charged with current from the channel of the transistor
I also thought the same thing as you at the beginning, saying that Vin actually supplies the load current + additional current to charge Coss. This is incorrect. Please note from post #2 that the inductive clamped test (idealized) is realized with ideal DC current source, in other words, the current taken from the DC voltage source is a DC constant current i.e. the voltage source can not supply additional current for the charge of Coss.No, the charge/energy in Coss does not come from the FET. It ultimately comes from your Vin or Vout, and some of that energy is lost when the FET turns on. FETs cannot source energy (at least at steady state), they can only dissipate it.
I sort of see where you're going with this, but the difference you're elaborating is irrelevant. Lets go with your revised statement (during turn off, Idrain is divided among the channel and Coss). This means that some energy is stored in Coss. For a hard switching circuit, this energy is always dissipated in the FET during turn on. That energy originally came from Vin (there's no other source in the system). If Coss had not been there, then that energy would have been diverted elsewhere (the load, probably).I also thought the same thing as you at the beginning, saying that Vin actually supplies the load current + additional current to charge Coss. This is incorrect. Please note from post #2 that the inductive clamped test (idealized) is realized with ideal DC current source, in other words, the current taken from the DC voltage source is a DC constant current i.e. the voltage source can not supply additional current for the charge of Coss.
I agree that I have explained it wrong though.
I said: "[...] the Coss capacitor is being charged with current from the channel of the transistor" <--- confusing sentence, but the ultimate conclusion is the same.
Should have said: "since the current flowing into the drain is constant because we are using a DC current source - see post #2 circuit (forget about the snubber), some current from the DC current source is diverted from the channel and is sent to charge Coss. In other words, Idrain (the current we have access to measure in a real circuit, that is, the channel current can not be measured in a real circuit)=IL(note that it is a DC current source i.e. its value can not change)=Ichannel+Icharge Coss".
That particular snubber works by limiting the rise time of Vds such that dissipation in the FET due to overlap in Vds and Ids is reduced. The energy absorbed by the snubber cap is still dissipated, but in the snubber resistor. So it reduces FET dissipation, but overall circuit dissipation won't decrease.Also please notice that the turn-OFF snubber would not make sense if I am mistaken. Why would someone add a capacitor in parallel with a transistor and call it "turn-OFF snubber" if actually it does not help in the turn OFF loss.
I did not say that there is zero turn ON loss. Review post #1. Only the net "Eoss" loss nulls out in the whole switching process which includes both turn ON and turn OFF. There is still loss due to overlap between drain voltage and drain current.However you cannot balance the two effects and say there is nil effective net loss
I think Co(er) characterizes the energy associated with Coss and could give more than a rough estimation...Coss absorbs some (a very little) energy from the thing driving current into the device, Coss is non linear with rising voltage so the exact energy can only be roughly computed.
Agreed. YOU SAID IT ! At turn OFF, some energy is stored into Coss. At turn ON, the SAME energy is dissipated into the FET.This means that some energy is stored in Coss. For a hard switching circuit, this energy is always dissipated in the FET during turn on.
Agreed. The Coss does the same thing, with the difference that its energy goes back to the FET. So, the energy taken out from the FET during turn OFF is dissipated back into the FET during turn ON !The energy absorbed by the snubber cap is still dissipated, but in the snubber resistor. So it reduces FET dissipation, but overall circuit dissipation won't decrease.
I agree that the snubber limits the rise time of Vds, but that is a drawback because more time there is overlap => more power loss. The real reason it reduces the power loss is because it reduces the channel current via diverting some of it into the snubber cap, and then dissipate it into the resistor (don't get me wrong. It does not take energy from the channel, but the current flowing into the transistor is lower because we have added a node, and using KCL says it must be the sum. LOAD current=Drain Current+Snubber Current). The Coss does the same thing with the exception that instead of dissipate it into the resistor, it dissipates it into the FET again i.e. it returns the previously energy stored back to the FET.That particular snubber works by limiting the rise time of Vds such that dissipation in the FET due to overlap in Vds and Ids is reduced.
Ok.Agreed. YOU SAID IT ! At turn OFF, some energy is stored into Coss. At turn ON, the SAME energy is dissipated into the FET.
Where does that energy come from ? It comes from the source, so, Source energy = Energy lost in FET during turn OFF switching + Energy to the Coss.
No. That energy does not go back to the source.At turn ON: Source energy = Energy lost in FET during turn ON - Energy that comes back from the Coss
No, because that dissipation depends on Coss.So, does not make this Coss-related-energy irrelevant to the overall(turn ON + turn OFF) switching loss of the FET ?
Energy cannot come our of the FET (its channel, that is). A channel cannot be an energy source.Agreed. The Coss does the same thing, with the difference that its energy goes back to the FET. So, the energy taken out from the FET during turn OFF is dissipated back into the FET during turn ON !
Longer overlap means more dissipation in the case that both Ids and Vds are being slowed down in the same way. If you slow down the rise of Vds while keeping the drop of Ids fast, then dissipation decreases. However if I also slow down the falling Vds edge while keeping the rising Ids fast, that will increase dissipation. That's why this circuit is built to only slow down the rising Vds edge.I agree that the snubber limits the rise time of Vds, but that is a drawback because more time there is overlap => more power loss.
Since the source energy is constant during that instant and the MOSFET energy is higher due to Coss discharge into it, in order to keep it constant, you must subtract the Coss energy. It does not go back to the source, source energy stays constant. Actually if you rearrange terms, you see that the energy goes into the FET.No. That energy does not go back to the source.
It does not take energy from the channel i.e. the channel is not an energy source, but the current flowing into the channel is lower because we have a node, and using KCL it must be the sum. LOAD current=Channel current+Coss current.Energy cannot come our of the FET (its channel, that is). A channel cannot be an energy source.
In a clamp inductive switching, while the voltage rises, the current stays constant and vice versa. So, if you longer the time of rise of the voltage, you can counteract that via lowering the current at which the drain stays constant at => this is done by introducing an additional cap in parallel during turn OFF which "stoles" (or better said, is being diverted some current from the load to it leaving less current for the transistor to switch) - the turn OFF snubber already presented.Longer overlap means more dissipation in the case that both Ids and Vds are being slowed down in the same way. If you slow down the rise of Vds while keeping the drop of Ids fast, then dissipation decreases. However if I also slow down the falling Vds edge while keeping the rising Ids fast, that will increase dissipation. That's why this circuit is built to only slow down the rising Vds edge.
This literally doesn't make physical sense. Voltage/current sources do not have "energy" defined at any instant.Since the source energy is constant during that instant and the MOSFET energy is higher due to Coss discharge into it, in order to keep it constant, you must subtract the Coss energy. It does not go back to the source, source energy stays constant. Actually if you rearrange terms, you see that the energy goes into the FET.
Sure for your hypothetical circuit these are all true. None of this addresses energy or power though.It does not take energy from the channel i.e. the channel is not an energy source, but the current flowing into the channel is lower because we have a node, and using KCL it must be the sum. LOAD current=Channel current+Coss current.
Do you agree with this equation? During Miller plateau of turn OFF : IL=Ichannel + ICoss ? (assume circuit of post #2 without snubber)
Do you agree that "IL" is constant and its value can not change ?
Do you agree that if "IL" is constant and its value can not change, the same is the current flowing through the voltage source during the Miller Plateau of turn OFF ?
Constant current does not mean constant power or constant energy per cycle. Show your work.The thing I do not agree with you is that you think that during turn OFF the source supplies additional energy to charge Coss. That is impossible because the current through the voltage source is constant and can not change !
I was not meant at any instant. I meant throught the whole plateau region. E=V*I*time it takes the plateauThis literally doesn't make physical sense. Voltage/current sources do not have "energy" defined at any instant.
No, but it is easy to derive them. I was addressing the current because it is where the misconception lies. Once you know the expression for the current, it is straight forward to derive the energy...Sure for your hypothetical circuit these are all true. None of this addresses energy or power though.
I never said "per cycle". The only thing I was referring so far was in the Miller Plateau region, which is where current is "stolen" from the source, leaving less for the channel because it is there where dv/dt happens and hence current into the Coss cap is inserted.Constant current does not mean constant power or constant energy per cycle. Show your work.
In hard switching, do you estimate the switching loss due to both overlap as well as Eoss ?For plain hard switching you are unlikely to add a cap across a fet - due to increased turn on losses ( and the current spike at turn on..!) even though you will reduce turn off losses for a fast solid gate drive.
I should have pointed out clearly (which I did not) that Coss is dependant on Vds, so in all places where you see Coss, actually should be Coss(Vds) showing that Coss is a function of Vds. But I did not in order not to confuse it with Coss multiplied by Vds..I follow you find up until the last integral in your pdf. You don't take into account that Vds(t) will be dependent on the value of Coss, and therefore so will that integral. Same for the turn on.
The second one i.e. Coss doesn't actually play part in switching losses (it plays part in both turn ON and turn OFF, but it is nulled out in a switching period). Why? As you can see, during turn OFF, if we compute switching loss due to overlap, it is: Vbus*IL|for the time period switching occurs - Eoss (we need to subtract Eoss).are you claiming that losses due to Coss should be lumped into the Eon and Eoff specified in datasheets? Or are you claiming that Coss doesn't actually play a part in switching losses?
That's also true, but besides my point, which is that Vds(t) will depend on Coss, and therefore so will the last integral (which you refer to as overlap). The way you wrote it is pretty nice, since it cleanly divides it between energy dissipated in the channel (the left hand integral) and energy stored in Coss (Eoss(Vbus) on the right side. But both of those are going to be functions of Coss to some extent. But this nitpick is actually beside the point...I should have pointed out clearly (which I did not) that Coss is dependant on Vds
Nope.The second one i.e. Coss doesn't actually play part in switching losses (it plays part in both turn ON and turn OFF, but it is nulled out in a switching period).
I see what you are saying, but it is mistaken.Let's try a hypothetical. If we were to gradually add more capacitance to Coss, the energy it stores per cycle would increase, and thus Eon of the FET would also increase by the same amount. You're claiming that Eoff will also decrease by the same amount, leading to Eon+Eoff being independent of Coss. Lets say that initially Eon=2uJ and Eoff=1uJ. Now let's say that I add enough capacitance that Eon increases by 2uJ (say Vbus=50V and I add 1.6nF to Coss). Now Eon=4uJ, and Eoff should be.... -1uJ? Do you see a problem with this scenario?
Which can't be true since, as you just pointed out, Eoff can't be negative, but Eon can grow indefinitely.The second one i.e. Coss doesn't actually play part in switching losses (it plays part in both turn ON and turn OFF, but it is nulled out in a switching period).
I think the logic is that they associate Eoss with Eon because that's when Eoss is actually dissipated by the transistor, as opposed to simply being absorbed by the transistor (along with its Coss). For most purposes the total Eon+Eoff is what counts, so it hardly matters. But my point is still that (Eon+Eoff) may depend on Coss, so Eoss can't be ignored entirely.The thing that bothers me most, is that manufacturers use Eoss at turn ON, but they do not say how Eoss was placed into Coss in the first place. Didn't some energy go into the Coss to give birth to that Eoss in the first pleace, lowering hence losses into the transistor at turn OFF
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