David Baba
National Semiconductor

A higher-power boost converter often requires special consideration to minimize power losses and temperature rise in the FETs, diode, and inductor. Regarding FETs, many designers opt to place FETs in parallel to reduce conduction losses. However, placing FETs in parallel can increase transitional losses. This article discusses a number of approaches that can be considered to reduce total losses in boost FETs. Further, this article will examine ways to approximate total FET losses and then make a selection from the potential approaches that best suits the application requirement.