ZHCSCA8A March 2014 – April 2019 TPS65286
PRODUCTION DATA.
There are two primary considerations for selecting the value of the output capacitor. The output capacitors are selected to meet load transient and output ripple’s requirements. Equation 15 gives the minimum output capacitance to meet the transient specification. For this example, Lo = 4.7 µH, ΔIOUT = 3 A – 0 A = 3 A and ΔVOUT = 250 mV (5% of regulated 5 V). Using these numbers gives a minimum capacitance of 34 µF. A standard 4 x 22 µF ceramic is chose in the design.
The selection of COUT is driven by the effective series resistance (ESR). Equation 16 calculates the minimum output capacitance needed to meet the output voltage ripple specification. Where fSW is the switching frequency, ΔVOUT is the maximum allowable output voltage ripple, and ΔiL is the inductor ripple current. In this case, the maximum output voltage ripple is 40 mV (1% of regulated 5 V). From Equation 16, the output current ripple is
1.7 A and the minimum output capacitance meeting the output voltage ripple requirement is 12.2 µF with 3-mΩ ESR resistance.
After considering both requirements, for this example, four 22-µF 6.3-V X7R ceramic capacitors with 3-mΩ of ESR will be used. Equation 17 calculates the maximum ESR an output capacitor can have to meet the output voltage ripple specification. Equation 17 indicates the ESR should be less than 23.5 mΩ. In this case, the ceramic capacitors’ ESR is much smaller than 23.5 mΩ.
Additional capacitance de-ratings for aging, temperature and DC bias should be factored in which increases this minimum value. For this example, a 47-µF 6.3-V X5R ceramic capacitor with 3-mΩ of ESR is be used. Capacitors generally have limits to the amount of ripple current they can handle without failing or producing excess heat. An output capacitor that can support the inductor ripple current must be specified. Some capacitor data sheets specify the root mean square (RMS) value of the maximum ripple current. Equation 18 can be used to calculate the RMS ripple current the output capacitor needs to support. For this application, Equation 18 yields 486 mA.