Intersil Offers Synchronous Rectified MOSFET Drivers
The ISL6609 and ISL6609A, introduced by Intersil Corp., are high frequency MOSFET drivers optimized to drive two N-Channel power MOSFETs in a synchronous-rectified buck converter topology. This driver combined with an Intersil ISL63xx or ISL65xx multiphase PWM controller forms a complete single-stage core-voltage regulator solution with high efficiency performance at high switching frequency for advanced microprocessors.
The IC is biased by a single low voltage supply (5V), minimizing driver switching losses in high MOSFET gate capacitance and high switching frequency applications. Each driver is capable of driving a 3nF load with less than 10ns rise/fall time. Bootstrapping of the upper gate driver is implemented via an internal low forward drop diode, reducing implementation cost, complexity, and allowing the use of higher performance, cost effective N-Channel MOSFETs. Adaptive shoot-through protection is integrated to prevent both MOSFETs from conducting simultaneously.
The ISL6609, ISL6609A features 4A typical sink current for the lower gate driver, enhancing the lower MOSFET gate hold-down capability during PHASE node rising edge, preventing power loss caused by the self turn-on of the lower MOSFET due to the high dV/dt of the switching node.
The ISL6609, ISL6609A also features an input that recognizes a high-impedance state, working together with Intersil multiphase PWM controllers to prevent negative transients on the controlled output voltage when operation is suspended. This feature eliminates the need for the schottky diode that may be utilized in a power system to protect the load from negative output voltage damage. In addition, the ISL6609A's bootstrap function is designed to prevent the BOOT capacitor from overcharging, should excessively large negative swings occur at the transitions of the PHASE node.
