IC IR2111 H-Bridge MOSFET, IGBT Driver IC: Full Datasheet, Circuit Diagram

In this article I will talk about this IC IR2111 which people use many times in power electronics field. We can see that this IC is made in such a way that it can handle high voltage and also it can work with very high switching speed and it is mainly meant for working like a driver IC for MOSFET and IGBT devices.

We can say that this chip is made especially for driving the high side MOSFET and also the low side MOSFET which are normally arranged in half bridge kind of power stage configuration.

Working and input details

We notice that this IC is having separate input pins for low side and also for high side logic signals and through those input pins you can feed the required logic signals and then the IC will accordingly generate the proper gate drive outputs for the MOSFET gates.

So in this way the IC takes care of proper switching of both high side and low side MOSFETs without confusion.

Floating high side feature

The interesting thing is that the floating high side channel of this IC can tolerate and also can work properly even when the offset voltage goes as high as 600 V.

That is the reason this IC becomes very useful in many high voltage power related circuits like SMPS, motor control systems, UPS, inverter circuits and many other such applications where we require proper isolated high side and low side gate drive facility.

Package information

This IC IR2111 is available in 14 pin DIP package and also in SOIC package, so depending on the requirement you can use either type for your project or design.

Absolute Maximum Ratings

Now we see that this IC has some limits beyond which the device can get damaged permanently. The absolute maximum ratings are like this.

Explanation

• The high side floating channel voltage can go from -0.3 V to 600 V.
• The high side floating return voltage VS can also swing between -5 V (with respect to COM) to 600 V.
• The logic input pins can handle -0.3 V to 25 V.
• The low side output pin voltage range is from -0.3 V to VCC + 0.3 V.
• The supply voltage VCC range is from -0.3 V to 25 V.
• The peak output current of the gate drivers can be ±2 A.
• The power dissipation is around 1 W in DIP package at 25 degree Celsius ambient.
• The operating junction temperature limit is -55 to +150 degree Celsius and the storage temperature is also -55 to +150 degree Celsius.

Recommended Operating Conditions

When we operate this IC then we must stay within the recommended operating range to ensure reliable and long life function, which are given below:

Explanation

• The VCC supply should be between 10 V and 20 V typically.
• The logic input voltage should be 0 V to VCC.
• The floating supply voltage VB should be VS + 10 V minimum and VS + 20 V maximum.
• The common mode offset voltage VS can normally swing from -5 V to 600 V.
• The switching frequency is normally recommended within few tens of kHz up to around 500 kHz depending on load and MOSFETs.
• The ambient temperature should be maintained between -40 degree Celsius to +125 degree Celsius.

Pinout and Lead Definitions

The IR2111 comes in 14 pin DIP/SOIC package. The pin description is like this.

Explanation

• Pin 1 is LO which is the low side gate drive output.
• Pin 2 is COM which is the low side return ground.
• Pin 3 is VCC which is the logic and low side supply input.
• Pin 4 is LIN which is the logic input for the low side driver.
• Pin 5 is HIN which is the logic input for the high side driver.
• Pin 6 is VSS which is the logic ground reference.
• Pin 7 is NC which means not connected.
• Pin 8 is VS which is the high side floating return.
• Pin 9 is HO which is the high side gate drive output.
• Pin 10 is VB which is the high side floating supply.
• Pin 11, 12, 13, 14 are NC not connected pins in DIP package.

Now as you can see there is not SD pin in this IC, which means that there is no Shut-Down integration Facility available with this IC, and so you may have arrange the shut down feature externally...

Internal Functional Block Diagram Explanation

Now if we see the internal block diagram of IR2111 then we can try to understand how this IC works inside.

At the input logic side we can see that there are two buffer circuits, one is for HIN pin and the other is for LIN pin.

These input buffers are designed in such way that they are TTL and CMOS compatible, so you can directly connect signals from microcontrollers without extra interface.

These buffer outputs go to the level shifting stages. For the low side channel this buffer output goes directly to the low side driver stage which is referenced with COM ground.

But for the high side channel the buffer output has to pass through a level shifter and this level shifter translates the logic level into the floating high side domain.

This is the important part that makes it possible for the IC to handle a high side MOSFET even when the MOSFET source terminal is continuously moving up and down at high voltage.

The high side section of the IC is made with a floating supply regulator and a high voltage level shifter.

Here VB pin and VS pin together make the floating supply nodes.

Normally you connect a bootstrap diode and a capacitor externally across these pins so that this floating supply can be generated.

The logic signal is transferred through the level shifter to this floating domain and then it drives the high side gate driver output stage.

The output stage here is made like a totem pole buffer which is able to source or sink almost 2 A peak current into the MOSFET gate.

The low side section is more simple. The LIN input is buffered and directly drives the LO pin through another totem pole stage, and this stage is referenced to COM ground.

Both the high side and the low side driver stages have internal dead time and shoot through prevention feature so that the two outputs never turn on together at the same time.

Along with this, you can also find under voltage lockout on both VCC and VB supply pins. This means that if the supply voltage goes down below the safe working level then the outputs are disabled immediately to protect the MOSFETs.

So finally if we see the full block diagram then we can realize that it shows the arrangement of input buffers, level shifters, under voltage lockouts, floating supply circuits and the final high current driver stages.

This makes IR2111 a complete high and low side MOSFET driver solution inside one single chip.

Working Explanation

So the IC basically accepts logic signals on HIN and LIN pins. These signals are TTL and CMOS compatible so we can drive them directly from a microcontroller, Arduino or logic circuit.

The IC will then drive the external MOSFET gates at HO and LO pins with sufficient voltage and current.

The high side channel works with bootstrapped supply at VB pin which is derived from diode capacitor circuit tied between VCC and HO.

This allows the high side driver to switch the MOSFET even when the source terminal VS is bouncing between ground and high voltage.

The low side channel simply drives the MOSFET with respect to COM ground. Both outputs can source and sink around 2 A peak which is enough for most medium power MOSFETs.

Applications

This driver IC is popularly used in half bridge converters, synchronous buck converters, full bridge inverters, AC motor drives, UPS, SMPS power supplies and general high speed switching circuits.

Because it has the ability to withstand 600 V floating operation makes it perfectly great for direct off line AC applications also.

Example Application of Half Bridge Driver Circuit using IC IR2111

In this circuit we are using IC IR2111 that is made to drive two MOSFET in half bridge connection. The supply voltage we give is +12V and that we are giving to VCC pin of IC and also to the bootstrap diode BA159.

The IC gives one output called LO pin that is for low side gate drive and also one output called HO pin that is for high side gate drive.

These two outputs we are connecting to the gate of the two MOSFET through 10 ohm resistor. These resistor we call as gate resistor, that limit the inrush charging current of the MOSFET gate capacitance and also that stop the oscillation problem.

Now when we look at the bootstrap network then we can see that BA159 diode and one 10uF capacitor is making the bootstrap power supply for the high side channel.

When low side MOSFET is ON then this capacitor is charging through the diode from the VCC line.

When the low side MOSFET is OFF and high side MOSFET is commanded ON then this capacitor is giving the floating supply VB to drive the high side MOSFET gate.

This way it allows the high side driver to push its gate voltage higher than its source voltage VS.

The IC has one pin called IN or LIN, where we give the PWM signal. This PWM input is what decides which MOSFET is ON and which is OFF.

The COM pin of IC we are tying to ground and also to the source of low side MOSFET. The VS pin of IC is going to the common drain node of both MOSFETs and this VS pin is very important because it will swing up and down with the switching node voltage.

The IC is watching this node and shifting the HO output in that same reference so it can properly drive the high side MOSFETs.

Across the supply we keep one one 100uF capacitor for decoupling of VCC and also we put another 10uF capacitor across the high voltage rail for filtering purpose.

Every MOSFET gate also has one 10k resistor to its source.

These are gate pull down resistor, that is making sure that gate will stay low whenever the driver is not active so that MOSFET will not accidentally turn ON from random stray charge.

We connect the output load between the output node of MOSFET half bridge and the ground line.

So the load is getting the PWM controlled half bridge action. The upper MOSFET can pull that node towards high voltage line which can go up till six hundred volt shown, and the lower MOSFET can pull that node to ground.

Together the two MOSFET can make waveform like AC type or also PWM DC waveform depending on what control signal we are giving.

So finally what we see is this whole circuit is acting as half bridge driver stage. The IC IR2111 will take one PWM input and then it will switch alternately the low side and high side MOSFET, and it will use the bootstrap capacitor for giving power to the high side gate.

The 10 ohm and ten kilo ohm resistor are keeping the gate stable and switching safe. The capacitor are giving decoupling and bootstrap energy.

The BA159 diode is a fast recovery type and it make sure the bootstrap capacitor will charge correctly each cycle.

This whole setup we can use for inverter, UPS, motor driver, SMPS, any place where we need to switch both high side and low side MOSFET in safe and synchronized way.

H-Bridge Inverter Sine wave Inverter using IR 2111 Application

Source: Datasheet