UNIT-V

POWER AMPLIFIERS AND DC CONVERTERS

Large signal or power amplifiers are used in the output stages of audio amplifier systems to drive a
loudspeaker load. One method used to distinguish the electrical characteristics of different types of power
amplifiers is by “class”, and as such amplifiers are classified according to their circuit configuration and
method of operation.
Amplifier Classes represent the amount of the output signal which varies within the amplifier circuit
over one cycle of operation when excited by a sinusoidal input signal.
Amplifier classes are mainly lumped into two basic groups. The first are the classically controlled
conduction angle amplifiers forming the more common amplifier classes of A, B, AB and C, which are
defined by the length of their conduction state over some portion of the output waveform, such that the
output stage transistor operation lies somewhere between being “fully-ON” and “fully-OFF”.
The second set of amplifiers are the newer so-called “switching” amplifier classes of D, E, F, G, S, T etc,
which use digital circuits and pulse width modulation (PWM) to constantly switch the signal between
“fully-ON” and “fully-OFF” driving the output hard into the transistors saturation and cut-off regions.

Class A Amplifier
Class A Amplifiers are the most common type of amplifier class due mainly to their simple design and
low signal distortion. The class A amplifier has the highest linearity over the other amplifier classes and
as such operates in the linear portion of the characteristics curve.
Generally class A amplifiers use the same single transistor connected in a common emitter configuration
for both halves of the waveform with the transistor always having current flowing through it, even if it
has no base signal. This means that the output stage is never driven fully into its cut-off or saturation
regions but instead has a base biasing Q-point in the middle of its load line. Then the transistor never
turns “OFF” which is one of its main disadvantages.

To achieve high linearity and gain, the output stage of a class A amplifier is biased “ON” (conducting) all
the time and the zero signal idle current in the output stage must be equal to or greater than the maximum
load current required to produce the largest output signal and conducts through a full 360 degrees of the
output waveform. As the output device is “ON” at all times, it is constantly carrying current, which
represents a continuous loss of power in the amplifier. Due to this continuous loss of power class A
amplifiers create tremendous amounts of heat adding to their very low efficiency at around 30%, making
them impractical for high-power amplifications. Also due to the high idling current of the amplifier, the
1
power supply must be sized accordingly and be well filtered to avoid any amplifier hum and noise. Due to
the low efficiency and overheating problems of Class A amplifiers, more efficient amplifier classes have
been developed.
It uses a single-ended transistor for its output stage with the resistive load connected directly to the
Collector terminal. When the transistor switches “ON” it sinks the output current through the Collector
resulting in an inevitable voltage drop across the Emitter resistance thereby limiting the negative output
capability. The efficiency of this type of circuit is very low (less than 30%) and delivers small power
outputs for a large drain on the DC power supply. A Class A amplifier stage passes the same load current
even when no input signal is applied so large heatsinks are needed for the output transistors.

Transformer-coupled Class A Amplifier Circuit

As the Collector current, Ic is reduced to below the quiescent Q-point set up by the base bias voltage, due
to variations in the base current, the magnetic flux in the transformer core collapses causing an induced
emf in the transformer primary windings. This causes an instantaneous collector voltage to rise to a value
of twice the supply voltage 2Vcc giving a maximum collector current of twice Ic when the Collector
voltage is at its minimum. Then the efficiency of this type of Class A amplifier configuration can be
calculated as follows.
The r.m.s. Collector voltage is given as:

The r.m.s. Collector current is given as:

The r.m.s. Power delivered to the load (Pac) is therefore given as:

The average power drawn from the supply (Pdc) is given by:

2
and therefore the efficiency of a Transformer-coupled Class A amplifier is given as:

An output transformer improves the efficiency of the amplifier by matching the impedance of the load
with that of the amplifiers output impedance. However, the transformer is an inductive device due to its
windings and core so the use of inductive components in amplifier switching circuits is best avoided as
any back emf’s generated may damage the transistor without adequate protection. Also another big
disadvantage of this type of transformer coupled class A amplifier circuit is the additional cost and size of
the audio transformer required.
The type of “Class” or classification that an amplifier is given really depends upon the conduction angle,
the portion of the 360o of the input waveform cycle, in which the transistor is conducting. In the Class A
amplifier the conduction angle is a full 360o or 100% of the input signal while in other amplifier classes
the transistor conducts during a lesser conduction angle. It is possible to obtain greater power output and
efficiency than that of the Class A amplifier by using two complementary transistors in the output stage
with one transistor being an NPN or N-channel type while the other transistor is a PNP or P-channel (the
complement) type connected in what is called a “push-pull” configuration.

Class B Amplifier
The basic class B amplifier uses two complimentary transistors either bipolar of FET for each half of the
waveform with its output stage configured in a “push-pull” type arrangement, so that each transistor
device amplifies only half of the output waveform.
In the class B amplifier, there is no DC base bias current as its quiescent current is zero, so that the dc
power is small and therefore its efficiency is much higher than that of the class A amplifier.

When the input signal goes positive, the positive biased transistor conducts while the negative transistor is
switched “OFF”. Likewise, when the input signal goes negative, the positive transistor switches “OFF”
while the negative biased transistor turns “ON” and conducts the negative portion of the signal. Thus the
transistor conducts only half of the time, either on positive or negative half cycle of the input signal.
Then we can see that each transistor device of the class B amplifier only conducts through one half or 180
degrees of the output waveform in strict time alternation, but as the output stage has devices for both
halves of the signal waveform the two halves are combined together to produce the full linear output
waveform. In a class B amplifier, the output transistor is not “biased” to an “ON” state of operation until
this voltage is exceeded.This means that the part of the waveform which falls within this 0.7 volt window
will not be reproduced accurately making the class B amplifier unsuitable for precision audio amplifier
applications.
To overcome this zero-crossing distortion (also known as Crossover Distortion) class AB amplifiers were
developed.

3
Class B Push-pull Transformer Amplifier Circuit

A Class B Amplifier circuit that uses a balanced center-tapped input transformer, which splits the
incoming waveform signal into two equal halves and which are 180 o out of phase with each other.
Another center-tapped transformer on the output is used to recombined the two signals providing the
increased power to the load. The transistors used for this type of transformer push-pull amplifier circuit
are both NPN transistors with their emitter terminals connected together. Here, the load current is shared
between the two power transistor devices as it decreases in one device and increases in the other
throughout the signal cycle reducing the output voltage and current to zero. The result is that both halves
of the output waveform now swings from zero to twice the quiescent current thereby reducing dissipation.
Assuming that no input signal is present, then each transistor carries the normal quiescent collector
current, the value of which is determined by the base bias which is at the cut-off point. If the transformer
is accurately center tapped, then the two collector currents will flow in opposite directions (ideal
condition) and there will be no magnetization of the transformer core, thus minimizing the possibility of
distortion. When an input signal is present across the secondary of the driver transformer T1, the
transistor base inputs are in “anti-phase” to each other as shown, thus if TR1 base goes positive driving
the transistor into heavy conduction, its collector current will increase but at the same time the base
current of TR2 will go negative further into cut-off and the collector current of this transistor decreases by
an equal amount and vice versa. Hence negative halves are amplified by one transistor and positive halves
by the other transistor giving this push-pull effect.
Unlike the DC condition, these alternating currents are ADDITIVE resulting in the two output half-
cycles being combined to reform the sine-wave in the output transformers primary winding which then
appears across the load.
Class B Amplifier operation has zero DC bias as the transistors are biased at the cut-off, so each
transistor only conducts when the input signal is greater than the Base-emitter voltage. Therefore, at zero
input there is zero output and no power is being consumed. This then means that the actual Q-point of a
Class B amplifier is on the Vce part of the load line as shown below.

4
The Class B Amplifier has the big advantage over their Class A amplifier cousins in that no current
flows through the transistors when they are in their quiescent state (ie, with no input signal), therefore no
power is dissipated in the output transistors or transformer when there is no signal present unlike Class A
amplifier stages that require significant base bias thereby dissipating lots of heat – even with no input
signal present.

Transformerless Class B Push-Pull Amplifier

One of the main disadvantages of the Class B amplifier circuit above is that it uses balanced center-tapped
transformers in its design, making it expensive to construct. However, there is another type of Class B
amplifier called a Complementary-Symmetry Class B Amplifier that does not use transformers in its
design therefore, it is transformerless using instead complementary or matching pairs of power transistors.
As transformers are not needed this makes the amplifier circuit much smaller for the same amount of
output, also there are no stray magnetic effects or transformer distortion to effect the quality of the output
signal. An example of a “transformerless” Class B amplifier circuit is given below.

The Class B amplifier circuit above uses complimentary transistors for each half of the waveform and
while Class B amplifiers have a much high gain than the Class A types, one of the main disadvantages of
class B type push-pull amplifiers is that they suffer from an effect known commonly as  Crossover
Distortion. Hopefully we remember from our tutorials about Transistors that it takes approximately 0.7
volts (measured from base to emitter) to get a bipolar transistor to start conducting. In a pure class B
amplifier, the output transistors are not “pre-biased” to an “ON” state of operation.
This means that the part of the output waveform which falls below this 0.7 volt window will not be
reproduced accurately as the transition between the two transistors (when they are switching over from
one transistor to the other), the transistors do not stop or start conducting exactly at the zero crossover
point even if they are specially matched pairs.
5
The output transistors for each half of the waveform (positive and negative) will each have a 0.7 volt area
in which they are not conducting. The result is that both transistors are turned “OFF” at exactly the same
time.
A simple way to eliminate crossover distortion in a Class B amplifier is to add two small voltage sources
to the circuit to bias both the transistors at a point slightly above their cut-off point. This then would give
us what is commonly called an Class AB Amplifier circuit. However, it is impractical to add additional
voltage sources to the amplifier circuit so PN-junctions are used to provide the additional bias in the form
of silicon diodes.

6
Class AB Amplifier
The Class AB Amplifier is a combination of the “Class A” and the “Class B” type amplifiers.The AB
classification of amplifier is currently one of the most common used types of audio power amplifier
design. The class AB amplifier is a variation of a class B amplifier as described above, except that both
devices are allowed to conduct at the same time around the waveforms crossover point eliminating the
crossover distortion problems of the previous class B amplifier.
The two transistors have a very small bias voltage, typically at 5 to 10% of the quiescent current to bias
the transistors just above its cut-off point. Then the conducting device, either bipolar or FET, will be
“ON” for more than one half cycle, but much less than one full cycle of the input signal. Therefore, in a
class AB amplifier design each of the push-pull transistors is conducting for slightly more than the half
cycle of conduction in class B, but much less than the full cycle of conduction of class A.
In other words, the conduction angle of a class AB amplifier is somewhere between 180 oand
360o depending upon the chosen bias point as shown.

7
The advantage of this small bias voltage, provided by series diodes or resistors, is that the crossover
distortion created by the class B amplifier characteristics is overcome, without the inefficiencies of the
class A amplifier design. So the class AB amplifier is a good compromise between class A and class B in
terms of efficiency and linearity, with conversion efficiencies reaching about 50% to 60%.

The Class AB Amplifier

We know that we need the base-emitter voltage to be greater than 0.7v for a silicon bipolar transistor to
start conducting, so if we were to replace the two voltage divider biasing resistors connected to the base
terminals of the transistors with two silicon Diodes. The biasing voltage applied to the transistors would
now be equal to the forward voltage drop of these diodes. These two diodes are generally called  Biasing
Diodes or Compensating Diodes and are chosen to match the characteristics of the matching transistors.
The circuit below shows diode biasing.

The Class AB Amplifier circuit is a compromise between the Class A and the Class B configurations.
This very small diode biasing voltage causes both transistors to slightly conduct even when no input
signal is present. An input signal waveform will cause the transistors to operate as normal in their active
region thereby eliminating any crossover distortion present in pure Class B amplifier designs.
A small collector current will flow when there is no input signal but it is much less than that for the Class
A amplifier configuration. This means then that the transistor will be “ON” for more than half a cycle of
the waveform but much less than a full cycle giving a conduction angle of between 180 o to 360o or 50% to
100% of the input signal depending upon the amount of additional biasing used. The amount of diode
biasing voltage present at the base terminal of the transistor can be increased in multiples by adding
additional diodes in series.
Class B amplifiers are greatly preferred over Class A designs for high-power applications such as audio
power amplifiers and PA systems. Like the class-A amplifier circuit, one way to greatly boost the current
gain ( Ai ) of a Class B push-pull amplifier is to use Darlington transistors pairs instead of single
8
transistors in its output circuitry.In the next tutorial about amplifiers we will look more closely at the
effects of Crossover Distortion in Class B amplifier circuits and ways to reduce its effect.
We have seen that one of the main disadvantages of the Class-A Amplifier configuration is its low full
power efficiency rating due to being biased around its central Q-point.But we also know that we can
improve the amplifier and almost double its efficiency simply by changing the output stage of the
amplifier to a Class B push-pull type configuration. However, this is great from an efficiency point of
view, but most modern Class B amplifiers are transformerless or complementary types with two
transistors in their output stage.This results in one main fundamental problem with push-pull amplifiers in
that the two transistors do not combine together fully at the output both halves of the waveform due to
their unique zero cut-off biasing arrangement. As this problem occurs when the signal changes or
“crosses-over” from one transistor to the other at the zero voltage point it produces an amount of
“distortion” to the output wave shape. This results in a condition that is commonly called Crossover
Distortion.
Crossover Distortion produces a zero voltage “flat spot” or “deadband” on the output wave shape as it
crosses over from one half of the waveform to the other. The reason for this is that the transition period
when the transistors are switching over from one to the other, does not stop or start exactly at the zero
crossover point thus causing a small delay between the first transistor turning “OFF” and the second
transistor turning “ON”. This delay results in both transistors being switched “OFF” at the same instant in
time producing an output wave shape as shown below.

Crossover Distortion Waveform

 In order that there should be no distortion of the output waveform we must assume that each transistor
starts conducting when its base to emitter voltage rises just above zero, but we know that this is not true
because for silicon bipolar transistors, the base-emitter voltage must reach at least 0.7v before the
transistor starts to conduct due to the forward diode voltage drop of the base-emitter pn-junction, thereby
producing this flat spot. This crossover distortion effect also reduces the overall peak to peak value of the
output waveform causing the maximum power output to be reduced as shown below.

Pre-biasing the Output

The problem of Crossover Distortion can be reduced considerably by applying a slight forward base bias
voltage to the bases of the two transistors via the center-tap of the input transformer, thus the transistors
are no longer biased at the zero cut-off point but instead are “Pre-biased” at a level determined by this
new biasing voltage.

Pre-biasing with Diodes

9
 

This pre-biasing voltage either for a transformer or transformerless amplifier circuit, has the effect of
moving the amplifiers Q-point past the original cut-off point thus allowing each transistor to operate
within its active region for slightly more than half or 180 o of each half cycle. In other words, 180 o + Bias.
The amount of diode biasing voltage present at the base terminal of the transistor can be increased in
multiples by adding additional diodes in series. This then produces an amplifier circuit commonly called
a Class AB Amplifier and its biasing arrangement is given below.

Class AB Output Characteristics

Class C Amplifier
The Class C Amplifier design has the greatest efficiency but the poorest linearity of the classes of
amplifiers mentioned here. Since class C amplifier is heavily biased so that the output current is zero for
more than one half of an input sinusoidal signal cycle with the transistor idling at its cut-off point. In
other words, the conduction angle for the transistor is significantly less than 180 degrees, and is generally
around the 90 degrees area.
While this form of transistor biasing gives a much improved efficiency of around 80% to the amplifier, it
introduces a very heavy distortion of the output signal. Therefore, class C amplifiers are not suitable for
use as audio amplifiers.

10
Due to its heavy audio distortion, class C amplifiers are commonly used in high frequency sine wave
oscillators and certain types of radio frequency amplifiers, where the pulses of current produced at the
amplifiers output can be converted to complete sine waves of a particular frequency by the use of LC
resonant circuits in its collector circuit.

Amplifier Classes Summary

By setting the position of the Q-point at half way on the load line of the amplifiers characteristics curve,
the amplifier will operate as a class A amplifier. By moving the Q-point lower down the load line changes
the amplifier into a class AB, B or C amplifier.
Then the class of operation of the amplifier with regards to its DC operating point can be given as:

As well as audio amplifiers there are a number of high efficiency Amplifier Classes relating to switching
amplifier designs that use different switching techniques to reduce power loss and increase efficiency..
The main function of the power amplifier, which are also known as a “large signal amplifier” is to deliver
power, which is the product of voltage and current to the load. Basically a power amplifier is also a
voltage amplifier the difference being that the load resistance connected to the output is relatively low, for
example a loudspeaker of 4Ω or 8Ω resulting in high currents flowing through the collector of the
transistor.

Comparison of the Different Amplifier Classes

Then the amplifier classes are always defined as follows:

 Class A: – The amplifiers single output transistor conducts for the full 360 o of the cycle of the
input waveform.
 Class B: – The amplifiers two output transistors only conduct for one-half, that is, 180 o of the
input waveform.
11
 Class AB: – The amplifiers two output transistors conduct somewhere between 180 oand
360o of the input waveform.
one of the main disadvantage of power amplifiers and especially the Class A amplifier is that their overall
conversion efficiency is very low as large currents mean that a considerable amount of power is lost in the
form of heat.

SWITCHED MODE POWER SUPPLY (SMPS)

Linear voltage regulators are generally much more efficient and easier to use than equivalent voltage
regulator circuits made from discrete components such a zener diode and a resistor, or transistors and
even op-amps. There is a wide range of these three-terminal fixed voltage regulators available each with
its own built-in voltage regulation and current limiting circuits. This allows us to create a whole host of
different power supply rails and outputs, either single or dual supply, suitable for most electronic circuits
and applications. There are even variable voltage linear regulators available as well providing an output
voltage which is continually variable from just above zero to a few volts below its maximum voltage
output.
Most d.c. power supplies comprise of a large and heavy step-down mains transformer, diode rectification,
either full-wave or half-wave, a filter circuit to remove any ripple content from the rectified d.c.
producing a suitably smooth d.c. voltage, and some form of voltage regulator or stabiliser circuit, either
linear or switching to ensure the correct regulation of the power supplies output voltage under varying
load conditions. Then a typical d.c. power supply would look something like this:

Typical DC Power Supply

 These typical power supply designs contain a large mains transformer (which also provides isolation
between the input and output) and a dissipative series regulator circuit. The regulator circuit could consist
of a single zener diode or a three-terminal linear series regulator to produce the required output voltage.
The advantage of a linear regulator is that the power supply circuit only needs an input capacitor, output
capacitor and some feedback resistors to set the output voltage. One of the disadvantages that series
voltage regulators have is that, their maximum continuous output current rating is limited to just a few
amperes . So they are generally used in applications where low power outputs are required. When higher
output voltage or current power supplies are required, the normal practice is to use a switching regulator
commonly known as a switch-mode power supply to convert the mains voltage into whatever higher
power output is required.

Switch Mode Power Supplies, or SMPS, are becoming common place and have replaced in most cases
the traditional linear ac-to-dc power supplies as a way to cut power consumption, reduce heat dissipation,
as well as size and weight. Switch-mode power supplies can now be found in most PC’s, power
amplifiers, TV’s, dc motor drives, etc., and just about anything that requires a highly efficient supply as
switch-mode power supplies are increasingly becoming a much more mature technology.
The basic switching converter consists of a power switching stage and a control circuit. The power
switching stage performs the power conversion from the circuits input voltage, VIN to its output
voltage, VOUT which includes output filtering.

12
The major advantage of the switch mode power supply is its higher efficiency, compared to standard
linear regulators, and this is achieved by internally switching a transistor (or power MOSFET) between its
“ON” state (saturated) and its “OFF” state (cut-off), both of which produces lower power dissipation.
This means that when the switching transistor is fully “ON” and conducting current, the voltage drop
across it is at its minimal value, and when the transistor is fully “OFF” there is no current flow through it.
So the transistor is acting like an ideal switch. As a result, unlike linear regulators which only offer step-
down voltage regulation, a switch mode power supply, can offer step-down, step-up and negation of the
input voltage using one or more of the three basic switch mode circuit
topologies: Buck, Boost and Buck-Boost. This refers to how the transistor switch, inductor, and
smoothing capacitor are connected within the basic circuit.

Buck Switch Mode Power Supply

The Buck switching regulator is a type of switch mode power supply circuit that is designed to
efficiently reduce DC voltage from a higher voltage to a lower one that is it subtracts or “Bucks” the
supply voltage. In other words, the buck switching regulator is a step-down regulator circuit, so for
example a buck converter can convert say, +12 volts to +5 volts.
The buck switching regulator is a DC-to-DC converter and one of the simplest and most popular type of
switching regulator. When used within a switch mode power supply configuration, the buck switching
regulator uses a series transistor or power MOSFET (ideally an insulated gate bipolar transistor, or IGBT)
as its main switching device as shown below.

Buck Switching Regulator

 A buck converter is a series transistor switch, TR1 with an associated drive circuit that keeps the output
voltage as close to the desired level as possible, a diode, D1, an inductor, L1 and a smoothing
capacitor, C1. The buck converter has two operating modes, depending on if the switching
transistor TR1 is turned “ON” or “OFF”. When the transistor is biased “ON” (switch closed),
diode D1 becomes reverse biased and the input voltage, VIN causes a current to flow through the inductor
to the connected load at the output, charging up the capacitor, C1. As a changing current flows through the
inductor coil, it produces a back-emf which opposes the flow of current, according to Faraday’s law, until
it reaches a steady state creating a magnetic field around the inductor, L1. This situation continues
indefinitely as long as TR1 is closed.

When transistor TR1 is turned “OFF” (switch open) by the controlling circuitry, the input voltage is
instantly disconnected from the emitter circuit causing the magnetic field around the inductor to collapse
inducing a reverse voltage across the inductor. This reverse voltage causes the diode to become forward
biased, so the stored energy in the inductors magnetic field forces current to continue to flow through the
load in the same direction, and return back through diode.

13
Then the inductor, L1 returns its stored energy back to the load acting like a source and supplying current
until all the inductor’s energy is returned to the circuit or until the transistor switch closes again,
whichever comes first. At the same time the capacitor also discharges supplying current to the load. The
combination of the inductor and capacitor forms an LC filter smoothing out any ripple created by the
switching action of the transistor. Therefore, when the transistor solid state switch is closed, current is
supplied from the supply, and when the transistor switch is open, current is supplied by the inductor. Note
that the current flowing through the inductor is always in the same direction, either directly from the
supply or via the diode but obviously at different times within the switching cycle.
As the transistor switch is being continuously closed and opened, the average output voltage value will
therefore be related to the duty cycle, D which is defined as the conduction time of the transistor switch
during one full switching cycle. If VIN is the supply voltage, and the “ON” and “OFF” times for the
transistor switch are defined as: tON and tOFF, then the output voltage VOUT is given as:

Buck Converter Duty Cycle

VOUT = tON / (tON +tOFF) x VIN

 The buck converters duty cycle can also be defined as:

D = tON / (tON +tOFF) = tON / Total Time = tON / T

D = VOUT / VIN or VOUT = D VIN

Another advantage of the buck converter is that the inductor-capacitor (LC) arrangement provides very
good filtering of the inductor current. Ideally the buck converter should be operated in a continuous
switching mode so that the inductor current never falls to zero. With ideal components, that is zero
voltage drop and switching losses in the “ON” state, the ideal buck converter could have efficiencies as
high as 100%.

Buck Switch Mode Power Supply

As well as the step-down buck switching regulator for the basic design of a switch mode power supply,
there is another operation of the fundamental switching regulator that acts as a step-up voltage regulator
called the Boost Converter.
Boost Switch Mode Power Supply has the larger the duty cycle, the higher the average DC output
voltage from the switch mode power supply. Voltage regulation is obtained by varying the duty cycle and
with high switching speeds, up to 200kHz, smaller components can be used thereby greatly reducing a
switch mode power supply’s size and weight.

The Boost switching regulator is another type of switch mode power supply circuit. It has the same
types of components as the previous buck converter, but this time in different positions. The boost
converter is designed to increase a DC voltage from a lower voltage to a higher one, that is it adds too or
“Boosts” the supply voltage, thereby increasing the available voltage at the output terminals without
changing the polarity. In other words, the boost switching regulator is a step-up regulator circuit, so for
example a boost converter can convert say, +5 volts to +12 volts.
The difference with the design of the boost switching regulator is that it uses a parallel connected
switching transistor to control the output voltage from the switch mode power supply. As the transistor
switch is effectively connected in parallel with the output, electrical energy only passes through the
inductor to the load when the transistor is biased “OFF” (switch open) as shown.

14
The Boost Switching Regulator

 In the Boost Converter circuit, when the transistor switch is fully-on, electrical energy from the
supply, VIN passes through the inductor and transistor switch and back to the supply. As a result, none of
it passes to the output as the saturated transistor switch effectively creates a short-circuit to the output.
This increases the current flowing through the inductor as it has a shorter inner path to travel back to the
supply. Meanwhile, diode D1becomes reverse biased as its anode is connected to ground via the transistor
switch with the voltage level on the output remaining fairly constant as the capacitor starts to discharge
through the load.

When the transistor is switched fully-off, the input supply is now connected to the output via the series
connected inductor and diode. As the inductor field decreases the induced energy stored in the inductor is
pushed to the output by VIN, through the now forward biased diode. The result of all this is that the
induced voltage across the inductor L1reverses and adds to the voltage of the input supply increasing the
total output voltage as it now becomes, VIN + VL. Current from the smoothing capacitor, C1 which was
used to supply the load when the transistor switch was closed, is now returned to the capacitor by the
input supply via the diode. Then the current supplied to the capacitor is the diode current, which will
always be ON or OFF as the diode is continually switched between forward and reverse status by the
switching actions of transistor. Then the smoothing capacitor must be sufficiently large enough to
produce a smooth steady output.
As the induced voltage across the inductor L1 is negative, it adds to the source voltage, VINforcing the
inductor current into the load. The boost converters steady state output voltage is given by:

 As with the previous buck converter, the output voltage from the boost converter depends upon the input
voltage and duty cycle. Therefore, by controlling the duty cycle, output regulation is achieved. Not also
that this equation is independent of the value of the inductor, the load current, and the output
capacitor.While buck converters may be the more common SMPS switching configuration, boost
converters are commonly used in capacitive circuit applications such as battery chargers, photo-flashes,
strobe flashes, etc, because the capacitor supplies all of the load current while the switch is closed.

These two basic switching topologies can be combined into a single non-isolating switching regulator
circuit called unsurprisingly, a Buck-Boost Converter.

Buck-Boost Switching Regulator

The Buck-Boost switching regulator is a combination of the buck converter and the boost converter that
produces an inverted (negative) output voltage which can be greater or less than the input voltage based
on the duty cycle. The buck-boost converter is a variation of the boost converter circuit in which the
inverting converter only delivers the energy stored by the inductor, L1, into the load. The basic buck-boost
switch mode power supply circuit is given below.

15
Modes of Buck Boost Converters

There are two different types of modes in the buck boost converter. The following are the two different
types of buck boost converters.

 Continuous conduction mode.

 Discontinuous conduction mode.

Continuous Conduction Mode

In the continuous conduction mode the current from end to end of inductor never goes to zero. Hence the
inductor partially discharges earlier than the switching cycle.

Discontinuous Conduction Mode

In this mode the current through the inductor goes to zero. Hence the inductor will totally discharge at the
end of switching cycles.

The Buck-Boost Switching Regulator

 The working operation of the DC to DC converter is the inductor in the input resistance has the
unexpected variation in the input current. If the switch is ON then the inductor feed the energy from the
input and it stores the energy of magnetic energy. If the switch is closed it discharges the energy. The
output circuit of the capacitor is assumed as high sufficient than the time constant of an RC circuit is high
on the output stage. The huge time constant is compared with the switching period and make sure that the
steady state is a constant output voltage Vo(t) = Vo(constant) and present at the load terminal.

The buck boost converter is a DC to DC converter. The output voltage of the DC to DC converter is less
than or greater than the input voltage. The output voltage of the magnitude depends on the duty cycle.
These converters are also known as the step up and step down transformers and these names are coming
from the analogous step up and step down transformer. The input voltages are step up/down to some level
of more than or less than the input voltage. By using the low conversion energy, the input power is equal

16
to the output power. It shows that the output current is less than the input current. Hence the buck booster
is a step up mode. ie., Vin < Vout and Iin > Iout
In the step down mode the input voltage is greater than the output voltage (Vin > Vout). It follows that the
output current is greater the input current. Hence the buck boost converter is a step down mode.

Vin > Vout and Iin < Iout When the transistor switch, TR1, is switched fully-on (closed), the voltage
across the inductor is equal to the supply voltage so the inductor stores energy from the input supply. No
current is delivered to the connected load at the output because diode, D1, is reverse biased. When the
transistor switch is fully-off (open), the diode becomes forward biased and the energy previously stored in
the inductor is transferred to the load. In other words, when the switch is “ON”, energy is delivered into
the inductor by the DC supply (via the switch), and none to the output, and when the switch is “OFF”, the
voltage across the inductor reverses as the inductor now becomes a source of energy so the energy stored
previously in the inductor is switched to the output (through the diode), and none comes directly from the
input DC source. So the voltage dropped across the load when the switching transistor is “OFF” is equal
to the inductor voltage.

The result is that the magnitude of the inverted output voltage can be greater or smaller (or equal to) the
magnitude of the input voltage based on the duty cycle. For example, a positive-to-negative buck-boost
converter can convert 5 volts to 12 volts (step-up) or 12 volts to 5 volts (step-down).
The buck-boost switching regulators steady state output voltage, VOUT is given as:
VOUT  = VIN (D/1-D)
 Then the buck-boost regulator gets its name from producing an output voltage that can be higher
(like a boost power stage) or lower (like a buck power stage) in magnitude than the input voltage.
However, the output voltage is opposite in polarity from the input voltage.
Applications of Buck boost converter

 It is used in the self regulating power supplies.

 It has consumer electronics.
 It is used in the Battery power systems.
 Adaptive control applications.
 Power amplifier applications.
Advantages of Buck Boost Converter

 It gives higher output voltage.

 Low operating duct cycle.
 Low voltage on MOSFETs

Summary
The modern switch mode power supply, or SMPS, uses solid-state switches to convert an unregulated DC
input voltage to a regulated and smooth DC output voltage at different voltage levels. The input supply
can be a true DC voltage from a battery or solar panel, or a rectified DC voltage from an AC supply using
a diode bridge along with some additional capacitive filtering.
17
In many power control applications, the power transistor, MOSFET or IGFET, is operated in its switching
mode were it is repeatedly turned “ON” and “OFF” at high speed. The main advantage of this is that the
power efficiency of the regulator can be quite high because the transistor is either fully-on and conducting
(saturated) or full-off (cut-off).
There are several types of DC-to-DC converter (as opposed to a DC-to-AC converter which is an
inverter) configurations available, with the three basic switching power supply topologies looked at here
being the Buck, Boost, and the Buck-Boost switching regulators. All three of these topologies are non-
isolated, that is their input and output voltages share a common ground line.
Each switching regulator design has its own unique properties with regards to the steady-state duty
cycles, relationship between the input and output current, and the output voltage ripple produced by the
solid-state switch action. Another important property of these switch mode power supply topologies is the
frequency response of the switching action to the output voltage.
Regulation of the output voltage is achieved by the percentage control of the time that the switching
transistor is in the “ON” state compared to the total ON/OFF time. This ratio is called the duty cycle and
by varying the duty cycle, (D the magnitude of the output voltage, VOUT can be controlled.
The use of a single inductor and diode as well as fast switching solid-state switches capable of operating
at switching frequencies in the kilohertz range, within the switch mode power supply design, allows for
the size and weight of the power supply to be greatly reduced. This is because there would be no large
and heavy step-down (or step-up) voltage mains transformers within their design. However, if isolation is
required between the input and output terminals, a transformer must be included before the converter.
The two most popular non-isolated switching configurations are the buck (subtractive) and the boost
(additive) converters. The buck converter is a type of switch-mode power supply that is designed to
convert electrical energy from one voltage to a lower one. The buck converter operates with a series
connected switching transistor. As the duty cycle, D < 1, the output voltage of the buck is always smaller
than the input voltage, VIN.
The boost converter is a type of switch-mode power supply that is designed to convert electrical energy
from one voltage to a higher one. The boost converter operates with a parallel connected switching
transistor which results in a direct current path between VINand VOUT via the inductor, L1 and diode, D1.
This means there is no protection against short-circuits on the output.
By varying the duty cycle, (D) of a boost converter, the output voltage can be controlled and with D < 1,
the DC output from the boost converter is greater than input voltage VINas a consequence of the inductors
self-induced voltage.
Also, the output smoothing capacitors in Switch-mode Power Supplies is assumed to be very large,
which results in a constant output voltage from the switch mode supply during the transistors switching
action.
Power MOSFET
A power MOSFET is a specific type of metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET)
designed to handle significant power levels. Compared to the other power semiconductor devices, for
example an insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) or a thyristor, its main advantages are
high switching speed and good efficiency at low voltages. It shares with the IGBT an isolated gate that
makes it easy to drive. They can be subject to low gain, sometimes to a degree that the gate voltage needs
to be higher than the voltage under control.

A power MOSFET is a special type of metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor. It is specially
designed to handle high-level powers. The power MOSFET’s are constructed in a V configuration.
Therefore, it is also called as V-MOSFET, VFET. The symbols of N- channel & P- channel power
MOSFET are shown in the below figure.

18
The power MOSFET is the most widely used low-voltage (that is, less than 200 V) switch. It can be
found in most power supplies, DC to DC converters, and low voltage motor controllers.

Basic Statures of Power MOSFET

Most of them have been abandoned (at least until recently) in favour of the Vertical Diffused
MOS (VDMOS) structure (also called Double-Diffused MOS or simply DMOS).
The cross section of a VDMOS (see figure 1) shows the "verticality" of the device: it can be seen that the
source electrode is placed over the drain, resulting in a current mainly vertical when the transistor is in the
on-state. The "diffusion" in VDMOS refers to the manufacturing process: the P wells (see figure 1) are
obtained by a diffusion process (actually a double diffusion process to get the P and N + regions, hence the
name double diffused).
Power MOSFETs have a different structure from the lateral MOSFET: as with most power devices, their
structure is vertical and not planar. In a planar structure, the current and breakdown voltage ratings are
both functions of the channel dimensions (respectively width and length of the channel), resulting in
inefficient use of the "silicon real estate". With a vertical structure, the voltage rating of the transistor is a
function of the doping and thickness of the N epitaxial layer (see cross section), while the current rating is
a function of the channel width. This makes it possible for the transistor to sustain both high blocking
voltage and high current within a compact piece of silicon.
It is worth noting that power MOSFETs with lateral structure exist. (See LDMOS) They are mainly used
in high-end audio amplifiers. Their advantage is a better behaviour in the saturated region (corresponding
to the linear region of a bipolar transistor) than the vertical MOSFETs. Vertical MOSFETs are designed
for switching applications, so they are only used in On or Off states.

Working Principle
19
On State Resistance

If the power MOSFET is in ON sate, then it produces the resistive behavior in-between the drain &
source terminals. We can see in the following figure, that the resistance is the sum of many elementary
contributions. The RS resistance is the source resistance. It will show all resistance between the source
terminals of the package to the channel of the MOSFET.

On State Resistance

The Rch resistance is the channel resistance and this resistance is inversely proportional to the channel
width & for a given die size, to the channel density. This resistance is very important contributors to the
RDSon of the low voltage MOSFET. The intensive work has done to reduce their cell size with respect to
increase the channel density.

The access resistance is represented by the Ra. The access resistance shows the resistance of the epitaxial
zone directly to the gate electrode. The current direction is changed from the channel to the vertical.

RJFET is the detrimental effect of the cell size reduction. The P implantation is observed from the gate of
a parasitic JFET transistor and it has reduced the width of the current flow.

Rn represents the epitaxial layer and it is used for sustaining the blocking voltage. This resistance is
directly related to the voltage rating of the device. The high voltage MOSFET requires a thick low
dependent layer which is highly resistive and a low voltage transistor requires a thin layer with the higher
doping layer which is very less resistive. This is the main factor for the resistance of high voltage
MOSFET.
20
The RD resistance is the equivalent of resistance of the RS for the drain. The RD resistance, represent the
transistor substrate and the package connections.

Break Down Voltage

The power MOSFET is equivalent to the PIN diode, if it is in the OFF state and it is initiated by the P+
diffusion, the N- epitaxial layer and the N+ substrate. This structure is reverse biased when it is highly
nonsymmetrical structure and the space charge region extends principally to the lightly doped side, which
is the N- layers.

Even though, when the MOSFET is in the ON state, there is a no function of the N- layers. Moreover, it is
lightly doped rejoin, intrinsic resistivity is non-negligible and it is added to the MOSFET ON- state drain
to source resistance.

Body Diode

The body diode can be seen in the following figure that the source metallization is connected to both the
N+ and P implantations. Even though the basic principle of the MOSFET requires only that the source
should be connected to the N+ zone. Thus, this would result in a floating P zone between the N-doped
source and drain. It is equivalent to an NPN transistor with a nonconnected base. Under some conditions
like high drain current, in the order of the same volts of an on-state drain to source voltage, this parasitic
transistor of NPN should be triggered and make the MOSFET uncontrollable.

Body Diode

The connections of the P implantation to the source metallization short the base terminal of the transistor
parasitic to its emitter and it prevents the latching. Hence this solution creates a diode between the
cathode & anode of the MOSFET and the current blocks in one direction.

For inductive loads, the body diodes utilize the freewheeling diodes in the configuration of H Bridge &
half bridge. Generally, these diodes will have a high forward voltage drop, the current is high. They are
sufficient in many applications like reducing part count.

21
The V- the shape of power MOSFET is cut to penetrate from the device surface is almost to the N+
substrate to the N+, P, and N – layers. The N+ layer is the heavily doped layer with a low resistive
material and the N- layer is a lightly doped layer with the high resistance region.

N – Channel Power MOSFET

Both the horizontal and the V cut surface are covered by the silicon dioxide dielectric layer and the
insulated gate metal film is deposited on the SiO2 in the V shape. The source terminal contacts with the
both N+ and P- layers through the SiO2 layer. The drain terminal of this device is N+.

The V-MOSFET is an E-mode FET and there is no exists of the channel in between the drain & source
till the gate is positive with respect to the source. If we consider the gate is positive with respect to the
source, then there is a formation of the N-type channel which is close to the gate and it is in the case of
the E-MOSFET. In the case of E-MOSFET, the N-type channel provides the vertical path for the charge
carriers. To flow between the drain and source terminals. If the VGS is zero or negative, then there is no
channel of presence and the drain current is zero.

22