JAJSA67I April 2004 – February 2019 LM2743
PRODUCTION DATA.
The output capacitor forms the second half of the power stage of a Buck switching converter. It is used to control the output voltage ripple (ΔVOUT) and to supply load current during fast load transients.
In this example the output current is 4 A and the expected type of capacitor is an aluminum electrolytic, as with the input capacitors. Other possibilities include ceramic, tantalum, and solid electrolyte capacitors, however the ceramic type often do not have the large capacitance needed to supply current for load transients, and tantalums tend to be more expensive than aluminum electrolytic. Aluminum capacitors tend to have very high capacitance and fairly low ESR, meaning that the ESR zero, which affects system stability, will be much lower than the switching frequency. The large capacitance means that at the switching frequency, the ESR is dominant, hence the type and number of output capacitors is selected on the basis of ESR. One simple formula to find the maximum ESR based on the desired output voltage ripple, ΔVOUT and the designed output current ripple, ΔIOUT, is:
In this example, in order to maintain a 2% peak-to-peak output voltage ripple and a 40% peak-to-peak inductor current ripple, the required maximum ESR is 20 mΩ. The Sanyo 4SP560M electrolytic capacitor will give an equivalent ESR of 14 mΩ. The capacitance of 560 µF is enough to supply energy even to meet severe load transient demands.