Application Report

SLUA887 – August 2018

Bootstrap Circuitry Selection for Half-Bridge

Configurations

Mamadou Diallo, High Power Drivers

ABSTRACT
Driving MOSFETs in half-bridge configurations present many challenges for designers. One of those
challenges is generating bias for the high-side FET. A bootstrap circuit takes care of this issue when
properly designed.
This document uses UCC27710, TI's 620V half-bridge gate driver with interlock to present the different
components in a bootstrap circuit and how to properly select them in order to ensure predictable switching
of the power FETs.

Contents
1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1
2 Basic Operation of Bootstrap Circuit ...................................................................................... 2
3 Bootstrap Components Selection .......................................................................................... 3
4 Layout Considerations for Bootstrap Components ...................................................................... 8
5 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 9
6 References ................................................................................................................... 9

List of Figures
1 Bootstrap Charging Path.................................................................................................... 2
2 Bootstrap Capacitor Discharging Path .................................................................................... 2
3 Reverse Recovery Losses due to Bootstrap Diode Reverse Recovery Time ....................................... 4
4 Reverse Recovery Losses due to Bootstrap Diode Reverse Recovery Time (Zoomed Out) ..................... 5
5 HB_HS Ringing Effects on Switch Node ................................................................................. 6
6 VDD/HB-HS Fast Ramp Up (Rboot = 0Ohms) ............................................................................. 7
7 VDD/HB-HS Fast Ramp Up (Rboot = 2.2Ohms) .......................................................................... 8
8 Layout Example using UCC27710 ........................................................................................ 8

List of Tables

1 Introduction
When using half-bridge configurations, it is necessary to generate high-side bias to drive the gate of the
high-side FET referenced to the switch node. One of the most popular and cost effective way for
designers to do so is the use of a bootstrap circuit which consists of a capacitor, a diode, a resistor and a
bypass capacitor.
This application report will explain how this circuit works, the key components of the bootstrap circuits
and their impact in the gate drive. This app note will put emphasis on half-bridge gate drives using
drivers with no built-in bootstrap diode, which gives designers flexibility and reduces power dissipation
in the gate driver IC. Additionally, it will discuss the layout considerations for the different components
of this circuit.

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2 Basic Operation of Bootstrap Circuit

A bootstrap circuit is used in half-bridge configurations to supply bias to the high-side FET. Figure 1 shows
the charging path of a bootstrap circuit in a simplified half-bridge configuration using UCC27710, TI's 620V
half-bridge driver with interlock. When the low-side FET is on (high-side FET is off), the HS pin and the
switch node are pulled to ground; the VDD bias supply, through the bypass capacitor, charges the
bootstrap capacitor through the bootstrap diode and resistor.

Figure 1. Bootstrap Charging Path

When the low-side FET is turned off and the high-side is on, the HS pin of the gate driver and the switch
node are pulled to the high voltage bus HV; the bootstrap capacitor discharges some of the stored voltage
(accumulated during the charging sequence) to the high-side FET through the HO and HS pins of the gate
driver as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Bootstrap Capacitor Discharging Path

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3 Bootstrap Components Selection

This section discusses each component's role and its impact in the gate drive.

3.1 Bootstrap Capacitor

From a design perspective, this is the most important component because it provides a low impedance
path to source the high peak currents to charge the high-side switch. As a general rule of thumb, this
bootstrap capacitor should be sized to have enough energy to drive the gate of the high-side MOSFET
without being depleted by more than 10%. This bootstrap cap should be at least 10 times greater than the
gate capacitance of the high-side FET. The reason for that is to allow for capacitance shift from DC bias
and temperature, and also skipped cycles that occur during load transients. The gate capacitance can be
determined using Equation 1:

(1)
Once the gate charge determined, the minimum value for the bootstrap capacitor can be estimated using
Equation 2:
(2)
Alternatively, a more detailed calculation of the minimum bootstrap capacitor value can be done using
Equation 3:

(3)
It is important to note that values below the minimum required bootstrap capacitor value could lead to
activation of the driver's UVLO therefore prematurely turning off the high-side FET. On the flip side, higher
values of the bootstrap capacitor lead to lower ripple voltage and longer reverse recovery time in some
conditions (when initially charging the bootstrap cap or with a narrow bootstrap charging period) as well as
higher peak current through the bootstrap diode. Equation 4 relates the bootstrap cap and the peak
currents through the bootstrap diode.
(4)
It is generally recommended to use low ESR and ESL surface mount multi-layer ceramic capacitors
(MLCC) with good voltage ratings (2xVDD), temperature coefficients and capacitance tolerances.

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3.2 VDD Bypass Capacitor

The charge to replenish the bootstrap capacitor must come from some larger bypass capacitor, usually
the VDD bypass capacitor. As a rule of thumb, this bypass capacitor should be sized to be at least 10
times larger than the bootstrap capacitor so that it is not completely drained during the charging time of
the bootstrap capacitor. This allows the bootstrap capacitor to be properly resplenished during the
charging sequence. This 10x ratio results in 10% maximum ripple on the VDD capacitor in worst case
conditions.
(5)

3.3 External Bootstrap Diode

In order to minimize losses associated with the reverse recovery properties of the diode and ground noise
bouncing, a fast recovery diode or Schottky diode with low forward voltage drop and low junction
capacitance is recommended. Using Schottky diodes reduce the risk associated with charge supplied
back to the gate driver supply from the bootstrap capacitor and minimize leakage current. Figure 3, shows
the reverse recovery losses when using diodes with reverse recovery times on HB-HS(Ch1). We can
observe large amount of over and undershoot on the HB-HS pin which can trigger the driver's UVLO and
shutdown the gate driver.
When the HS pin (switch node) is pulled to a higher voltage, the diode must be able reverse bias fast
enough to block any charges from the bootstrap capacitor to the VDD supply. This bootstrap diode should
be carefully chosen such that it is capable of handling the peak transient currents during start-up; and
such that its voltage rating is higher than the system DC-link voltage with enough margins.

Figure 3. Reverse Recovery Losses due to Bootstrap Diode Reverse Recovery Time

Figure 4 below shows a reverse recovery condition created (channel 1) by setting up the timing to
specifically force the switch node high with the diode current flowing.

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Figure 4. Reverse Recovery Losses due to Bootstrap Diode Reverse Recovery Time (Zoomed Out)

Figure 5 shows the effects of the losses on the HB-HS pin which can trigger the switch node and
potentially damage the driver.

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Figure 5. HB_HS Ringing Effects on Switch Node

3.4 Bootstrap Resistor

The role of the bootstrap resistor is to limit the peak currents at the bootstrap diode during start-up, it
should therefore be carefully selected as it introduces a time constant with the bootstrap capacitor given
by Equation 6:
(6)
This time constant occuring during the high-side off time explains the dependency on duty cycle. This duty
cycle being constant, the bootstrap resistor and bootstrap capacitor should be tuned appropriately to
achieve the desired start-up time. Increasing the bootstrap resistor values will increase the time constant
leading to slower start-up time.
Additionally, the bootstrap resistor chosen must be able to withstand high power dissipation during the first
charging sequence of the bootstrap capacitor. This energy can be estimated by Equation 7:
(7)
This energy is dissipated during the charging time of the bootstrap capacitor and can be estimated using
Equation 8:
(8)

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This resistor is essential in limiting the peak currents through the bootstrap diode at start-up and limiting
the dv/dt of HB-HS (high-side floating supply to the return high-side floating supply). The peak current
through this resistor can be calculated using Equation 9:
(9)
Figure 6 shows the fast ramp up on VDD (CH4) and HB-HS (CH1) when using a 0-Ohm resistor which
leads to undesired change in voltage on LO(CH3) and HO(CH2).

Figure 6. VDD/HB-HS Fast Ramp Up (Rboot = 0Ohms)

Figure 7 shows how using slightly higher resistor value (Rboot = 2.2Ohms) solve this issue. It is important to
note that the bias rising rate observed in Figure 7 does not apply to all drivers.

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Figure 7. VDD/HB-HS Fast Ramp Up (Rboot = 2.2Ohms)

4 Layout Considerations for Bootstrap Components

Once all bootstrap components appropriately selected, it is important to carefully place these components
in order to minimize parasitic inductances and reduce high current trace length. This high current path
includes the bootstrap capacitor, the bootstrap diode, the ground-referenced VDD bypass capacitor of the
driver, and the low-side power switch. It is therefore important to reduce that path and keep that loop as
small as possible. The bootstrap capacitor and bypass capacitor should be placed as closed as possible
to the gate driver supply pins. Figure 8 below shows a good layout example using UCC27710 with all
bootstrap components located near the gate driver IC minimizing any effects of parasitic inductances and
reducing the high peak currents path of the bootstrap circuit. It is also important to separate high voltage
power and low voltage signal traces.

Figure 8. Layout Example using UCC27710

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5 Summary
This application report used UCC27710, TI's 600V family of half-bridge drivers to discuss the basic
operation of a bootstrap circuit in a half-bridge configuration. It also discussed the role and importance of
each bootstrap components required to generate bias for the high-side FET in half-bridge configurations. It
showed a detailed calculation method as well as a general rule of thumb estimation for the bootstrap
capacitor. Additionally, it discussed how to properly place these components on a PCB layout once all the
components are appropriately selected.

6 References
• UCC27710 Product Folder
• UCC27710 Datasheet
• UCC27710 Evaluation Module
• Half-bridge Driver Products
• Fundamentals of MOSFET and IGBT Gate Driver Circuits

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