SNVA935A June 2020 – July 2021 LM60430 , LM60430-Q1 , LM60440 , LM60440-Q1
It is a constant battle for the power designer to balance size, efficiency, heat, and noise levels in DC/DC regulators. This balance could heavily depend on the packaging technology used for the power converter or power module construction. The Enhanced HotRod™ (HR) QFN package technology addresses multiple design challenges and allows power converter and module manufacturers to push the industry envelope on package size, efficiency, thermal dissipation capability, and noise performance.
Texas Instruments’ enhanced HotRod QFN package merges the noise benefits of a flipped chip on lead-frame (FCOL) package with the thermal benefits of a ground DAP on a standard QFN package. By leveraging the FCOL package technology, the enhanced HotRod QFN package eliminates package wire-bonds and achieves best-in-class EMI performance (Section 2), and by leveraging the standard QFN package technology, the enhanced HotRod QFN package uses a center PowerPad™ IC package to dissipate heat and achieves 4 A at an ambient temperature of 85⁰C (Section 4). The LM60440, LM60430, LM60440, and LM60430-Q1 are TI’s first DC/DC converters with Enhanced HotRod QFN package technology, and their performance is evaluated throughout this application note.