RFMW Expert Product Pick: pSemi PE24111 Two-stage Buck Regulator

What made you select the pSemi PE24111 Two-stage Buck Regulator as a featured product?

I’ve selected the pSemi PE24111 Two-stage Buck Regulator because its innovative two-stage architecture delivers exceptional efficiency in ultra-low voltage applications where board space and profile are heavily constrained. Designing high-current, low-voltage rails in systems like optical modules or core supplies for FPGAs and ASICs presents a unique challenge. The need for tight voltage regulation, high transient response, and low-profile components often competes with thermal and space limitations. In many designs, conventional power architectures struggle to deliver 20A loads at sub-0.7V output without sacrificing efficiency or increasing solution size.

The PE24111 addresses these challenges by combining a two-phase interleaved charge pump with a high efficiency interleaved buck stage. This approach minimizes the inductance required, resulting in a compact, ultra-high efficiency power stage that supports up to 20A continuous current from a 3.3V nominal rail while maintaining better than ±1% output voltage regulation, critical for today’s advanced silicon devices. For higher current, up to 3 devices can be used in parallel to achieve 60A max current. The output voltage range is 0.35V to 0.7V and is selected using external feedback resistors and adjusted via external AVS DAC. With 90% peak efficiency the PE24111 stands out as a go-to solution for high-density, high-performance designs.

What are the Key Features/Specifications of the PE24111?

• Industry-leading 90% peak efficiency from proprietary two-stage architecture

• Up to 20A continuous output current

• Wide input voltage range from 3.0V to 3.6V (ideal for 3.3V systems)

• Output voltage adjustable from 0.35V to 0.7V

• Compact, ultra-low profile footprint

• Output regulation better than ±1% over line and load

• External AVS DAC support for dynamic voltage scaling

• External sync pin for clock synchronization

• Parallel operation for up to three devices (60A)

What are Common Markets/Applications of the PE24111?

• Low-profile point-of-load (POL) regulators

• Optical modules

• Core supplies

• Core power for ASICs

• Core power for FPGAs