A Level Shifter With Almost Full Immunity to Positive dv/dt for Buck Converters
Yunzhe Yang, Mo Huang, Sijun Du, Rui P. Martins, Yan Lü
Abstract
High-frequency buck converters need a fast transition of switching nodes (high dv/dt). Such high dv/dt, especially the positive one, can cause malfunction of a conventional pulse-triggered active-coupled (PTAC) level shifter that is used to control the high-side NMOS switch. In this work, we first discuss the dv/dt immunity of conventional PTAC level shifters. Subsequently, we propose a new scheme to block the noise current during the dv/dt sequence, allowing an almost full immunity to the positive dv/dt. With this scheme, the maximum dv/dt is determined by how well the circuitry is protected from the overvoltage during the dv/dt sequence. We design a 20-V buck converter with this level shifter, fabricated in 180-nm BCD process. Experimental results show it works correctly under a 67-V/ns dv/dt.