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April 1998
5-95
MIC5010
Applications Information
(Continued)
Micrel
5
self-protected against inductive switching transients. Dur-
ing turn-off an inductive load will force the MOSFET source
5V or more below ground, while the driver holds the gate at
ground potential. The MOSFET is forced into conduction,
and it dissipates the energy stored in the load inductance.
The MIC5010 source and sense pins (5 and 6) are designed
to withstand this negative excursion without damage. Exter-
nal clamp diodes are unnecessary, but may be added to
reduce power dissipation in the MOSFET.
Current Shunts
(R
S
). Low-valued resistors are necessary
for use at R
S
.Values for R
S
range from 5 to 50m
, at 2 to
10W. Worthy of special mention are Kelvin-sensed, “four-
terminal” units supplied by a number of manufacturers
.
Kelvin-sensed resistors eliminate errors that are caused by
lead and terminal resistances, and simplify product assem-
bly. 10% tolerance is normally adequate, and with shunt
potentials of 200mV thermocouple effects are insignificant.
Temperature coefficient is important; a linear, 500ppm/
°
C
change will contribute as much as 10% shift in the over-
current trip point. Most power resistors designed for current
shunt service drift less than 100ppm/
°
C.
Low-Side Driver with Current Sensing MOSFET
(Figure
4). Several manufacturers now supply power MOSFETs in
which a small sampling of the total load current is diverted
to a “sense” pin. One additional pin, called “Kelvin source,”
is included to eliminate the effects of resistance in the
source bond wires. Current-sensing MOSFETs are speci-
fied with a sensing ratio “S” which describes the relationship
between the on-resistance of the sense connection and the
body resistance “R” of the main source pin. Current sensing
MOSFETs eliminate the current shunt required by standard
MOSFETs.
The design equations for a low-side driver using a current
sensing MOSFET are shown in Figure 4. “S” is specified on
the MOSFET’s datasheet, and “R” must be measured or
estimated. V
TRIP
must be less than R
×
I
L
, or else R
S
will
become negative. Substituting a MOSFET with higher on-
resistance, or reducing V
TRIP
fixes this problem. V
TRIP
=
100 to 200mV is suggested. Although the load supply is
limited only by MOSFET ratings, the MIC5010 supply
should be limited to 15V to prevent damage to the gate
clamp zener. Output clamping is necessary for inductive
loads.
“R” is the body resistance of the MOSFET, excluding bond
resistances. R
DS(ON)
as specified on MOSFET data sheets
includes bond resistances. A Kelvin-connected ohmmeter
(using TAB and SOURCE for forcing, and SENSE and
KELVIN for sensing) is the best method of evaluating “R.”
Alternatively, “R” can be estimated for large MOSFETs
(R
DS(ON)
≤
100m
) by simply halving the stated R
DS(ON)
, or
by subtracting 20 to 50m
from the stated R
DS(ON)
for
smaller MOSFETs.
High-Side Driver with Current Sensing MOSFET
(Figure
1). The design starts by determining the value of “S” and “R”
for the MOSFET (use the guidelines described for the low-
side version). Let V
TRIP
= 100 mV, and calculate R
S
for a
desired trip current. Next calculate R
TH
and R1. The trip
Inhibit
Input
Thresh
Sense
Source
Gnd
Fault
V+
C1
Com
C2
Gate
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
MIC5010
=24V
IRF541
10μF
100
20k
24k
18m
IRC 4LPW-5*
R1
Figure 3. High-Side Driver
with Current Shunt
LOAD
Control Input
V+
+
NC
NC
*International Resistive Company
R2
R1=
R2=100
R =
R =
1mA
V
100mV+
2200–1000
V
TRIP
+
I
L
For this example:
I =10A (trip current)
V =100mV
V
TRIP
R
R
TH
Suppliers of Kelvin-sensed power resistors:
Dale Electronics, Inc., 2064 12th Ave., Columbus, NE 68601. Tel: (402) 564-3131
International Resistive Co., P.O. Box 1860, Boone, NC 28607-1860. Tel: (704) 264-8861
Kelvin, 14724 Ventura Blvd., Ste. 1003, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-3501. Tel: (818) 990-1192
RCD Components, Inc., 520 E. Industrial Pk. Dr., Manchester, NH 03103. Tel: (603) 669-0054
Ultronix, Inc., P.O. Box 1090, Grand Junction, CO 81502. Tel: (303) 242-0810