The zero Voltage switching (ZVS) critical conduction mode (CRM) buck Converter With tapped-inductor

The critical conduction mode (CRM) control has some disadvantages such as the increase of switching loss and conduction loss of the main switch at extreme high/low voltage conversion applications. In this paper, a CRM buck converter with tapped inductor is proposed to overcome these problems. In this converter, both the active switch and the diode have soft switching operation by the resonance between the switch parasitic capacitors and the filter inductor. Furthermore, the peak current of the main switch is reduced by tapped inductor operation, thus the conduction loss and switching loss levels of the main switch are lowered. Consequently, this tapped inductor scheme with CRM control alleviates the severe power stress and enhances device utilization. For the proposed converter evaluation, this paper provides the operation analysis and design procedures of the converter, and also presents the hardware verification for a 50-W prototype operating at maximum 70 kHz. Finally, a new topology family derived by combination of CRM operation with the basic tapped-inductor converter is included.