Control and design challenges for synchronous rectifiers

With the development of telecommunication and mobile technologies, smart phones, tablets and notebook computers became essential parts of everyday life. Because of this, we require more powerful processors, which requires increased batter size and higher levels of AC/DC chargers, while the size is expected to remain the same or grow smaller. The power supply design industries are searching for different solutions to obtain higher power density AC/DC adapters through better semiconductor devices and topologies while different countries and organizations pass legislation for the efficiency standard for these power supplies. To improve power supply efficiency to meet stringent standards, a synchronous rectifier (SR) often replaces the diode rectifier. This training series will explain how to achieve efficiency improvement and presents design criteria for selecting a suitable SR MOSFET, balancing between conduction and switching losses.

Why should I take this training?

• Due to demand for higher power, smaller, and more efficient power supplies, SR is an important design approach for all power engineers
• Understanding how to design SR will improve AC/DC converter performance

What will I learn?

• Comparison between diode and SR power losses
• Pros and cons of different control methods for SR
• MOSFET selection to maximize SR performance