What is the freewheeling principle of Schottky diodes in switching power supply circuits, and what conditions should be met?
It can be deduced from the theory of semiconductor physics that under static conditions, the nonlinear relationship between current and voltage of a diode is:
I=IS*(e-1)
In the formula, I is the diode current, IS is the reverse saturation current of the diode, IS is generally 8~10uA, IS increases with the increase of temperature, V is the voltage acting on both ends of the diode, VT is the temperature and voltage equivalent of the PN junction, VT=26mV at room temperature.
Assuming that the general Schottky diode conduction voltage drop is 0.4V, and the parallel diode has a 0.1% error in the forward conduction voltage drop due to the manufacturing process and other factors, then the forward conduction voltage drop of the two Schottky diodes is 0.4V and 0.401V respectively, and assuming that the IS is only 2uA, then Eq. (1) obtains:
I1=IS*(e V/VT -1)=2*10-6 *(e0.4/0.026 -1)=9.6A
I2=IS*(e V/VT -1)=2*10-6 *(e0.401/0.026 -1)=10A
Considering that the main disadvantage of Schottky diodes is the reverse leakage current, the leakage current increases with the increase of temperature and reverse voltage, and the IS will increase exponentially. At the same time, because the negative temperature coefficient of the Schottky diode will lead to positive feedback, it will eventually make one Schottky overload and one Schottky light, if the design is not reasonable, it will lead to the overloaded Schottky temperature is too high, which is easy to cause system failure.
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