Driving P-Channel MOSFETs with a Microcontroller |
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MOSFET transistors are excellent choice for driving high current devices such as motors or high power RGB LEDs. They offer very low switching resistance and very small heat dissipation compared to bipolar transistors. This guide is designed to explain how to drive P-Channel MOSFETs with a microcontroller such as PIC or ATMEGA. There are a couple of tricks to remember when using them. P-Channel MOSFETs are useful for switching positive supply of a target circuit on and off. Particular attention must be placed to the target circuit if the supply voltage is greater then the micro controller's logic voltages. If for example, your target device is being powered by 12 volts, and your logic high state from the micro controller is 5 volts, then the MOSFET will never turn off, as voltage will either be -12V or -7V (remember that this guide is designed for logic level MOSFETs). Anything over -3 volts will generally drive the logic level MOSFET on (varies between types of LL MOSFETs). The solution is easy - if you are driving a greater voltage then the micro controllers logic high voltage, then use a NPN (2N3904) transistor to control the Gate of the MOSFET, tying it to ground with a logic high to create a (in this case) -12 Vgs, and 0 Vgs when a logic low drives the transistor to turn off. The reverse biased diode in parallel with the motor should be used when ever you are driving inductive loads, but is not required with purely resistive loads. If your target device is being driven from the same voltage levels as the logic high output of the micro controller, then no driving circuit is required (note that the MOSFETs control is inverted); Finally, keep in mind that MOSFETs are very sensitive to static, so handle with care. I am yet to damage one while 'hobby-handling' though.
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MOSFETs as Switches. MOSFET: Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field- Effect Transistor – n-channel MOSFET = nFET = NMOS – p-channel MOSFET = pFET = PMOS – Complementary MOS: CMOS. Symbols nFET pFET. Drain Drain Source. Enhancement-Type ('Normally OFF') P-Channel MOSFET is like an upside-down N-Channel MOSFET. It starts to conduct if Gate value is sufficiently lower than Source. If you connect the Source of a P-Channel MOSFET to VCC, then you can use a voltage between VCC (+) and Ground (-) to turn it ON and OFF.
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A P-Channel MOSFET is a type of MOSFET in which the channel of the MOSFET is composed of a majority of holes as current carriers. When the MOSFET is activated and is on, the majority of the current flowing are holes moving through the channels.
This is in contrast to the other type of MOSFET, which are N-Channel MOSFETs, in which the majority ofcurrent carriers are electrons.
Before, we go over the construction of P-Channel MOSFETs, we must go over the 2 types that exist. There are 2 types of P-Channel MOSFETs, enhancement-type MOSFETs and depletion-type MOSFETs.
A depletion-type MOSFET is normally on (maximum current flows from source to drain) when no differencein voltage exists between the gate and source terminals. However, if a voltage is applied to its gate lead, the drain-source channel becomes more resistive, until the gate voltage is so high, the transistor completely shuts off. An enhancement-type MOSFET is the opposite. It is normally off when the gate-source voltage is 0V(VGS=0). However, if a voltage is applied to its gate lead, the drain-source channel becomesless resistive.
In this article, we will go over how both P-Channel enhancement-type and depletion-type MOSFETs are constructed and operate.
How P-Channel MOSFETs Are Constructed Internally
An P-Channel MOSFET is made up of a P channel, which is a channel composed of a majority of hole current carriers. The gate terminals are made up of N-type material.
Depending on the voltage quantity and type (negative or positive)determines how the transistor operates and whether it turns on or off.
How a P-Channel Enhancement-type MOSFET Works
How to Turn on a P-Channel Enhancement Type MOSFET
To turn on a P-Channel Enhancement-type MOSFET, apply a positive voltage VS to the source of the MOSFET and apply a negative voltage to the gate terminal of the MOSFET (the gate must be sufficiently more negative than the threshold voltage across the drain-source region(VGSingle P-channel Logic Level Powertrench® Mosfet Supersottm-6So with a sufficient positive voltage, VS, to the source and load, and sufficient negative voltage applied to the gate, the P-Channel Enhancement-type MOSFET is fully functional and is in the active 'ON' mode of operation.
Logic Level P Channel Mosfet Tutorial
How to Turn Off a P-Channel Enhancement Type MOSFET
To turn off a P-channel enhancement type MOSFET, there are 2 steps you can take. You can either cut off the bias positive voltage, VS, that powers the source. Or you can turn off the negative voltagegoing to the gate of the transistor.
How a P-Channel Depletion-type MOSFET Works
How to Turn on a P-Channel Depletion Type MOSFET
To turn on a P-Channel Depletion-Type MOSFET, for maximum operation, the gate voltage feeding the gate terminal should be 0V. With the gate voltage being 0V, the drain current is at is largest value and the transistor is in the active 'ON'region of conduction.
So, again, to turn on a P channel depletion-type MOSFET, positive voltage is applied to the source of the p-channel MOSFET. So we power the source terminal of the MOSFET with VS, a positive voltage supply. With a sufficient positive voltage, VS, and no voltage (0V) applied to the base, the P-channel Depletion-type MOSFET is in maximum operation and has the largest current.
How to Turn Off a P-Channel Depletion Type MOSFET
To turn off a P-channel MOSFET, there are 2 steps you can take. You can either cut off the bias positivevoltage, VDD, that powers the drain. Or you can apply a negative voltage to the gate. When a negativevoltage is applied to the gate, the current is reduced. As the gate voltage, VG, becomes more negative, the current lessens until cutoff, which is when then MOSFET is in the 'OFF' condition. This stops a large source-drain current.
So ,again, as negative voltage is applied to the gate terminal of the P channel depletion-type MOSFET, the MOSFET conducts less and less current across the source-drain terminal. When the gate voltage reaches a certain negative voltage threshold, it shuts the transistor off. Negative voltage shuts the transistor off. This is for a depletion-type P-channel MOSFET.
MOSFET transistors are used for both switching and amplifying applications. MOSFETs are perhaps the most popular transistors used today. Their high input impedance makes them draw very little input current, they are easy to make, can be made very small, and consume very little power.
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