PCB
layout is a critical portion of good-power supply
design. There are several paths that conduct high
slew-rate currents or voltages that can interact
with stray inductance or parasitic capacitance to
generate noise and EMI or degrade the power supply
performance.
- To help eliminate these problems, bypass the VIN
pin to GND with a low-ESR ceramic bypass capacitor
with a high-quality dielectric. Place
CIN as close as possible to the LM5012 VIN and GND pins.
Grounding for both the input and output capacitors
must consist of localized top-side planes that
connect to the GND pin and GND PAD.
- Minimize the loop area formed by the input
capacitor connections to the VIN and GND
pins.
- Place the inductor and Schottky diode close to
the SW pin. Minimize the area of the SW trace or
plane to prevent excessive capacitive
coupling.
- Have the Schottky diode anode pin in close
proximity to input capacitor ground or
return.
- Tie the GND pin directly to the power pad under
the device and to a heat-sinking PCB ground
plane.
- Use a ground plane in one of the middle layers as
a noise shielding and heat dissipation path.
- Have a single-point ground connection to the
plane. Route the ground connections for the
feedback, soft start, and enable components to the
ground plane, which prevents any switched or load
currents from flowing in analog ground traces. If
not properly handled, poor grounding results in
degraded load regulation or erratic output voltage
ripple behavior.
- Make VIN, VOUT, and ground
bus connections as wide as possible, which reduces
any voltage drops on the input or output paths of
the converter and maximizes efficiency.
- Minimize trace length to the FB pin. Place both
feedback resistors, RFB1 and
RFB2, close to the FB pin. Place
CFF (if needed) directly in parallel
with RFB1. If output setpoint accuracy
at the load is important, connect the
VOUT sense at the load. Route the
VOUT sense path away from noisy nodes
and preferably through a layer on the other side
of a grounded shielding layer.
- The RON pin is sensitive to noise. Thus, locate
the RRON resistor as close as possible
to the device and route with minimal lengths of
trace. The parasitic capacitance from RON to GND
must not exceed 20 pF.
- Provide adequate heat sinking for the LM5012 to keep the
junction temperature below 150°C. For operation at
full rated load, the top-side ground plane is an
important heat-dissipating area. Use an array of
heat-sinking vias to connect the exposed pad to
the PCB ground plane. If the PCB has multiple
copper layers, these thermal vias must also be
connected to inner layer heat-spreading ground
planes.
- Reference Layout Example.