Description

A good PCB layout is critical for the boost converter. The reason is that the boost converter is sensitive to parasitic capacitance and inductance because of the switch-mode operation. The bad PCB layout would introduce large parasitic capacitance and inductance, which would cause high output ripple, poor output voltage regulation and current limit accuracy, electromagnetic interference (EMI) problem, and even failure by the high voltage spike. Proper PCB layout will help to avoid most of these problems of the boost converter without extra cost if thought is spent before the first PCB is built.

Copying the layout of the boost converter from its datasheet or evaluation module (EVM) is easiest, but the layout may not fit the system board. So this application note details five steps that help to design a good PCB layout for the TPS61xxx converter.