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© 2012 ROHM Co., Ltd.
No. 60AN066E Rev.003
OCTOBER 2017
Application Note
Switching Regulator Series
PCB Layout Techniques of Buck Converter
PCB layout design for switching power supply IC is as important as the circuit design. Appropriate layout can avoid various problems caused by
power supply circuit. Major problems that arise from inappropriate layout may cause increase in noise superposed by output and switching signal,
the deterioration of regulator, and also lack of stability. Adopting an appropriate layout will suppress these problems to occur.
Current Path
Figure 1-a to 1-c shows current path in a buck converter circuit.
In Figure 1-a, the red line illustrates the main current flow in the
converter when switching element Q
1
is ON. C
BYPASS
is a
decoupling capacitor for high frequency and C
IN
is the capacitor
with large capacitance. The instance when the switching
element Q
1
is turned ON, most of the steep part of current
waveform is supplied by C
BYPASS
and then from C
IN
.
In Figure 1-b, the red line illustrates the condition of current flow
when the switching element Q
1
is OFF. Free-wheel diode D
1
turns ON and energy stored in inductor L gets released to output
side. For Buck converter topology, since inductor is inserted at
output in series the output capacitor current is smooth.
Refer Figure 1-c, the red line shows the difference between
Figure 1-a and 1-b. Current in this red line changes violently
each time the switching element Q
1
changes from OFF to ON,
and vice versa. These sharp changes induce several harmonics
in the waveform. This difference in system needs to be paid
maximum attention during PCB layout and an important caution
point.
PCB Layout Procedure
General points of PCB layout procedure are as follows.
1. Place input capacitor and free-wheel diode on the same PCB
surface layer as the IC terminal and as close as possible to IC.
2. Include thermal via if necessary to improve heat dissipation.
3. Place inductor close to IC, no need to be as close as input
capacitor. This is to minimize radiation noise from the
switching node and do not expand copper area more than
needed.
4. Place output capacitor close to inductor.
5. Keep wiring of return path away from noise causing areas,
such as inductor and diode.
Placing of input Capacitor and Free-wheel
Diode
First of all, start placing the most important parts, such as the
input capacitor and free-wheel diode. A Single ceramic capacitor
may serve as both C
IN
and C
BYPASS
for smaller capacitance value
of input capacitor, in designs with small current power supply
(I
O
≤1A). This is because the frequency characteristics get better,
as ceramic capacitor’s capacitance value gets smaller. But
ceramic capacitor has different frequency characteristics, so
confirming it for actual parts being used is important.
As in Figure 2, when a large capacitance value capacitor is used
for C
IN
, generally it has bad frequency characteristics. Therefore
place a decoupling capacitor C
BYPASS
for high frequency with
good frequency characteristics in parallel to C
IN
. For C
BYPASS
,
use surface mount type laminated ceramic capacitor with value
of 0.1µF to 0.47µF, X5R or X7R type.
Figure 3-a shows layout example for a suitable input capacitor.
Place C
BYPASS
near IC terminal on the top layer. As in Figure 3-
b, large capacitance capacitor C
IN
can be separated about 2cm
from C
BYPASS
that supplies most of the pulse-current. When
difficulty in space occupied, and if cannot place C
IN
on the same
surface as IC, it can be placed at the bottom layer through via
like in Figure 3-c. Risks regarding noise can be avoided with this,
but there is a possibility of ripple-voltage to increase at high-
current, influenced by via resistance.
Figure 3-d shows the layout of C
BYPASS
and C
IN
placed on the
reverse side. In such case, voltage noise is created by
inductance of the via, and the bypass capacitor operates as a
reverse effect. Do not carry out this kind of layout design.