APEX MICROTECHNOLOGY CORPORATION • 5980 NORTH SHANNON ROAD • TUCSON, ARIZONA 85741 • USA • APPLICATIONS HOTLINE: 1 (800) 546-2739
4
OPERATING
CONSIDERATIONS
PA10 • PA10A
GENERAL
Please read Application Note 1 "General Operating Consider-
ations" which covers stability, supplies, heat sinking, mounting,
current limit, SOA interpretation, and specification interpretation.
Visit www.apexmicrotech.com for design tools that help automate
tasks such as calculations for stability, internal power dissipation,
current limit; heat sink selection; Apex’s complete Application Notes
library; Technical Seminar Workbook; and Evaluation Kits.
SAFE OPERATING AREA (SOA)
The output stage of most power amplifiers has three distinct
limitations:
1. The current handling capability of the transistor geometry and
the wire bonds.
2. The second breakdown effect which occurs whenever the
simultaneous collector current and collector-emitter voltage
exceeds specified limits.
3. The junction temperature of the output transistors.
The SOA curves combine the effect of these limits. For a given
application, the direction and magnitude of the output current
should be calculated or measured and checked against the SOA
curves. This is simple for resistive loads but more complex for
reactive and EMF generating loads.
1. For DC outputs, especially those resulting from fault condi-
tions, check worst case stress levels against the new SOA
graph.
For sine wave outputs, use Power Design1 to plot a load
line. Make sure the load line does not cross the 0.5ms limit
and that excursions beyond any other second breakdown
line do not exceed the time label, and have a duty cycle of
no more than 10%.
For other waveform outputs, manual load line plotting is
recommended. Applications Note 22, SOA AND LOAD LINES,
will be helpful. A Spice type analysis can be very useful in that
a hardware setup often calls for instruments or amplifiers with
wide common mode rejection ranges.
2. The amplifier can handle any EMF generating or reactive load
and short circuits to the supply rail or shorts to common if the
current limits are set as follows at TC = 85°C:
SHORT TO ±VS SHORT TO
±VS C, L, OR EMF LOAD COMMON
50V .21A .61A
40V .3A .87A
35V .36A 1.0A
30V .46A 1.4A
25V .61A 1.7A
20V .87A 2.2A
15V 1.4A 2.9A
CURRENT LIMITING
Refer to Application Note 9, "Current Limiting", for details of
both fixed and foldover current limit operation. Visit the Apex
web site at www.apexmicrotech.com for a copy of the Power
Design spreadsheet (Excel) which plots current limits vs. steady
state SOA. Beware that current limit should be thought of as a
+/–20% function initially and varies about 2:1 over the range
of –55°C to 125°C.
For fixed current limit, leave pin 7 open and use equations
1 and 2.
RCL = 0.65/LCL (1)
ICL = 0.65/RCL (2)
Where:
ICL is the current limit in amperes.
RCL is the current limit resistor in ohms.
For certain applications, foldover current limit adds a slope
to the current limit which allows more power to be delivered
to the load without violating the SOA. For maximum foldover
slope, ground pin 7 and use equations 3 and 4.
0.65 + (Vo * 0.014)
ICL = (3)
RCL
0.65 + (Vo * 0.014)
RCL = (4)
ICL
Where:
Vo is the output voltage in volts.
Most designers start with either equation 1 to set RCL for the
desired current at 0v out, or with equation 4 to set RCL at the
maximum output voltage. Equation 3 should then be used to
plot the resulting foldover limits on the SOA graph. If equa-
tion 3 results in a negative current limit, foldover slope must
be reduced. This can happen when the output voltage is the
opposite polarity of the supply conducting the current.
In applications where a reduced foldover slope is desired, this can
be achieved by adding a resistor (RFO) between pin 7 and ground.
Use equations 4 and 5 with this new resistor in the circuit.
0.65 + Vo * 0.14
10.14 + RFO
ICL = (5)
RCL
0.65 + Vo * 0.14
10.14 + RFO
RCL = (6)
ICL
Where:
RFO is in K ohms.
1 Note 1. Power Design is a self-extracting Excel spreadsheet avail-
able free from www.apexmicrotech.com
This data sheet has been carefully checked and is believed to be reliable, however, no responsibility is assumed for possible inaccuracies or omissions. All specifications are subject to change without notice.
PA10U REV O OCTOBER 2004 © 2004 Apex Microtechnology Corp.