Buck converter

A buck converter or step-down converter is a DC-to-DC converter which steps down voltage (while stepping up current) from its input (supply) to its output (load). It is a class of switched-mode power supply. Switching converters (such as buck converters) provide much greater power efficiency as DC-to-DC converters than linear regulators, which are simpler circuits that lower voltages by dissipating power as heat, but do not step up output current. The efficiency of buck converters can be very high, often over 90%, making them useful for tasks such as converting a computer's main supply voltage, which is usually 12 V, down to lower voltages needed by USB, DRAM and the CPU, which are usually 5, 3.3 or 1.8 V. Buck converters typically contain at least two semiconductors (a diode and a transistor, although modern buck converters frequently replace the diode with a second transistor used for synchronous rectification) and at least one energy storage element (a capacitor, inductor, or the two in combination). To reduce voltage ripple, filters made of capacitors (sometimes in combination with inductors) are normally added to such a converter's output (load-side filter) and input (supply-side filter). Its name derives from the inductor that “bucks” or opposes the supply voltage. Buck converters typically operate with a switching frequency range from 100 kHz to a few MHz. A higher switching frequency allows for use of smaller inductors and capacitors, but also increases lost efficiency to more frequent transistor switching. The basic operation of the buck converter has the current in an inductor controlled by two switches (fig. 2). In a physical implementation, these switches are realized by a transistor and a diode, or two transistors (which avoids the loss associated with the diode's voltage drop). The conceptual model of the buck converter is best understood in terms of the relation between current and voltage of the inductor. Beginning with the switch open (off-state), the current in the circuit is zero.