Patent ID: 9502973
Filing Date: 2016-11-22
CPC Classification: H02M,H03K

Claim Text:
1. A buck converter for converting a high voltage at an input of said buck converter to a low voltage at an output of said buck converter, said buck converter comprising: a fast III-nitride switch interposed between said input and said output and a low resistance switch interposed between said output and a ground, wherein said fast III-nitride switch and said low resistance switch form a half-bridge directly coupled between said input of said buck converter and said ground; wherein said fast III-nitride switch comprises a first depletion-mode (D-mode) III-nitride device coupled to a silicon transistor and a first diode coupled across said silicon transistor; wherein said low resistance switch comprises a second D-mode III-nitride device coupled in series with a second diode; a control circuit configured to control a duty cycle of said fast III-nitride switch in response to a feedback signal from said output; said low resistance switch having a low on-state resistance and reduced charge storage; said fast III-nitride switch having a sufficiently high switching speed so as to allow a ratio of said input high voltage to said output low voltage to be approximately 100 or higher.