LTC3890
applicaTions inForMaTion
PC Board Layout Checklist
–
+
4. Are the SENSE and SENSE leads routed together with
minimumPCtracespacing?Thefiltercapacitorbetween
When laying out the printed circuit board, the following
checklist should be used to ensure proper operation of
the IC. These items are also illustrated graphically in the
layoutdiagramofFigure11.Figure12illustratesthecurrent
waveforms present in the various branches of the 2-phase
synchronousregulatorsoperatinginthecontinuousmode.
Check the following in your layout:
+
–
SENSE and SENSE should be as close as possible
to the IC. Ensure accurate current sensing with Kelvin
connections at the SENSE resistor.
5. Is the INTV decoupling capacitor connected close
CC
to the IC, between the INTV and the power ground
CC
pins? This capacitor carries the MOSFET drivers’ cur-
rent peaks. An additional 1µF ceramic capacitor placed
1. Are the top N-channel MOSFETs MTOP1 and MTOP2
located within 1cm of each other with a common drain
immediatelynexttotheINTV andPGNDpinscanhelp
CC
improve noise performance substantially.
connection at C ? Do not attempt to split the input
IN
decoupling for the two channels as it can cause a large
6. Keep the switching nodes (SW1, SW2), top gate nodes
(TG1, TG2), andboostnodes(BOOST1, BOOST2)away
from sensitive small-signal nodes, especially from
the opposites channel’s voltage and current sensing
feedback pins. All of these nodes have very large and
fast moving signals and therefore should be kept on
the output side of the LTC3890 and occupy minimum
PC trace area.
resonant loop.
2. Are the signal and power grounds kept separate? The
combined IC signal ground pin and the ground return
of C
must return to the combined C
(–) ter-
INTVCC
OUT
minals. The path formed by the top N-channel MOSFET,
Schottky diode and the C capacitor should have short
IN
leads and PC trace lengths. The output capacitor (–)
terminals should be connected as close as possible
to the (–) terminals of the input capacitor by placing
the capacitors next to each other and away from the
Schottky loop described above.
7.Useamodifiedstargroundtechnique:alowimpedance,
large copper area central grounding point on the same
side of the PC board as the input and output capacitors
with tie-ins for the bottom of the INTV decoupling
CC
capacitor, the bottom of the voltage feedback resistive
3. Do the LTC3890 V pins’ resistive dividers connect to
FB
divider and the SGND pin of the IC.
the (+) terminals of C ? The resistive divider must be
OUT
connected between the (+) terminal of C
and signal
OUT
ground. The feedback resistor connections should not
be along the high current input feeds from the input
capacitor(s).
3890fb
30
Linear Systems [ Linear Systems ]
