Texas Instruments (TI) introduced the industry's first 12-V, 10-A, 10-MHz series-capacitor buck converter that achieves more than 50 A/cm3 in current density, which is four times higher than any other 12 V power management component or solution available today.
The unique topology of the TPS54A20 SWIFT synchronous DC/DC converter enables high-frequency operation at up to 5 MHz per phase without special magnetics or compound semiconductors, which designers can use for 8-V to 14-V input and 10-A output applications. By using the step-down converter together with TI's WEBENCH Power Design tool, engineers can get their space- and height-constrained point-of-load (POL) telecom and networking power-supply designs to market faster.
The TPS54A20 features a unique two-phase, series-capacitor DC/DC buck topology that merges a switched-capacitor circuit with a multiphase buck converter. This capacitive conversion technology enables efficient, high-frequency operation and measures as much as seven times smaller than conventional converters. For a quick introduction, watch the vide "How to decrease inductor size in a 10-A DC/DC converter design" and read the white paper, "Breakthrough power delivery for space-constrained applications."
Read the application note "Introduction to the Series Capacitor Buck Converter" that analyzes the technology and presents example results for a 12-V input, 1.2-V/10-A output application demonstrating higher peak efficiency than a conventional buck converter, while operating at four times higher switching frequency.
