Stability analysis of equivalent series resistance of output capacitor in fixed off-time controlled Buck converter

Abstract

Based on the power simulation software, the reason of the output voltage phase lagging behind the inductor current phase is analyzed qualitatively, and the mechanism to cause the pulse bursting phenomenon in fixed-off-time (FOT) controlled Buck converter is explained. The way to choose the equivalent series resistance (ESR) of output capacitor to eliminate these complex nonlinear phenomena is discussed. The critical ESR to ensure the state operation of FOT controlled Buck converter is obtained. The study results indicate that the ESR has a great effect on the operation state of FOT controlled Buck converter. When the ESR is smaller than the critical value, the output voltage phase lags behind the inductor current phase, resulting in the pulse bursting phenomenon; while when the ESR is larger than the critical value, the output voltage variation keeps in phase with the inductor current variation, the pulse bursting phenomenon disappearing. In addition, the describing function method is used to obtain the transfer function from the reference voltage to the output voltage. By using the Routh-Hurwitz criterion, it is indicated that the critical ESR is the condition of destabilizing FOT controlled Buck converter.