Negative Capacitance Minimises Active PFC Controller’s Harmonic Distortion

Intersil’s ISL6730A active power factor correction (PFC) controller delivers minimal harmonic distortion (THD) and high power factor, says the company. The device’s patent-pending breakthrough in negative capacitance technology reduces electromagnetic interference (EMI) filter size, improves THD and power factor, and provides maximum efficiency over a wide input supply range and output power (input voltages from 85 to 270 V ac and power range from 50 W to 2 kW). It also minimizes zero crossing distortion, compensates for input filter capacitance power factor displacement error, and reduces the magnetic component size by up to 66%. The device’s PFC capability is compatible with the requirements for a power factor higher than 0.9, as currently required by Energy Star Program Requirements for Computers Version 5.0. The ISL6730A also achieves excellent light load efficiency using integrated skip-mode and includes an internally clamped 12.5-V gate driver delivering 1.5-A peak current to the external power MOSFET.

INTERSIL