SLVSHH9 February 2024 TPS54KC23
PRODUCTION DATA
There are three considerations for selecting the value of the output capacitor:
Equation 25 and Equation 26 calculate the minimum capacitance to meet the transient response requirement of 32mV with a 15A step. These equations calculate the necessary output capacitance to hold the output voltage steady while the inductor current ramps up or ramps down after a load step. Calculations determine only 659μF is needed to meet the transient response requirement. This calculation assumes instant load step. After lab evaluation under a 1A/us slew rate condition, the capacitance was reduced while still meeting the load step requirement.
The output capacitance needed to meet the overshoot requirement is the highest value, so this sets the required minimum output capacitance for this example. Stability requirements can also limit the maximum output capacitance. Equation 27 calculates the recommended maximum output capacitance. This calculation keeps the LC double pole above 1/100th the fSW. Using more output capacitance is possible, but the stability must be checked through a bode plot or transient response measurement. The selected output capacitance is 12 × 47μF, 4V ceramic capacitors. When using ceramic capacitors, the capacitance must be derated due to DC and AC bias effects. The selected capacitors derate to 73% the nominal value giving an effective total capacitance of 412μF.
This application uses all ceramic capacitors so the effects of ESR on the ripple and transient were ignored. If using non ceramic capacitors, as a starting point, the ESR must be below the values calculated in Equation 28 to meet the ripple requirement and Equation 29 to meet the transient requirement. For more accurate calculations or if using mixed output capacitors, the impedance of the output capacitors must be used to determine if the ripple and transient requirements can be met.