AN11160

Designing RC snubbers
Rev. 3.0 — 3 February 2023

application note

Document information
Information

Content

Keywords

RC snubber, commutation, reverse recovery, leakage inductance, parasitic capacitance, RLC
circuit and damping, MOSFET

Abstract

This document describes the design of a simple RC snubber circuit.

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Designing RC snubbers

1. Introduction
This document describes the design of a simple “RC snubber circuit”. The snubber is used
to suppress high-frequency oscillations associated with reverse recovery effects in power
semiconductor applications.

2. Designing the snubber - theory
The basic circuit is a half-bridge and shown in Fig. 1
aaa-036067

VDD

Q1

PWM

L1

Q2

PWM

0V

Fig. 1.

The half-bridge circuit

In this application note, Q1 and Q2 are BUK7Y2R0-40H devices. Other devices could beconsidered. Inductor L1 could be connected to VDD rather than 0 V.
Inductor current is established in the red loop; Q1 is off. Before turning Q1 on, Q2 should be turned
off to prevent shoot-through current. During the time when both switches are off, current flows
through the body diode of Q2 and reverse recovery charge, Qrr, is accumulated in the PN junction.
When Q1 is turned on, the body diode of Q2 becomes reverse biased and the stored Qrr depletes
through Q1. This causes an additional current in Q1 called the reverse recovery current, Irr. We
observe the effect of reverse recovery in the VDS waveform of Q2; see Fig. 2. Time intervals, t1
and t2 shown in this figure will be used to estimate the peak reverse recovery current; see equation
(22).
30

aaa-036124

f = 91.7 MHz

V DS
(V)
20

10

0
t1
-10
-20

Fig. 2.

t2

0

20

40

60
80
time (ns)Reverse recovery-induced oscillation in Q2 VDS

The equivalent circuit is shown in Fig. 3

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stray
inductance (LLK)

Q1

Q2
VDS

VDD
Coss

(CLK)

aaa-002743

Fig. 3.

Equivalent circuit

We are primarily interested in the parasitic elements in the circuit:••

LLK is the total stray or “leakage” inductance comprised of PCB trace inductance, device
package inductance, etc.
The parasitic capacitance CLK is mainly due to Coss of the bottom (Q2) device

Q1 is treated as a simple switch. L1 is omitted here because of its high impedance at the frequency
range of interest.
The oscillation caused by reverse recovery of Q2 can be eliminated (snubbed) by placing an RC
circuit across Q2 drain-source; see Fig. 4.
stray
inductance (LLK)

Q1
VDD
Q2
VDS

Coss

(CLK)

RS
CS
aaa-002744

Fig. 4.

Equivalent circuit with snubber components RS and CS

Before Q2 body diode goes into blocking state, current builds up in the leakage inductance in Fig. 4
due to the reverse recovery charge of Q2. Assuming Q2 blocks the current in a short time, thereverse recovery current in the inductor is forced to flow through the snubber network formed by
CS and RS. The transition of energy from inductor to snubber capacitor causes the oscillations if[1]
the network is not well damped. Behavior of this circuit is analyzed in and the energy loss in thesnubber resistor during turn off is found as:

1 C V 2
1 L I 2
WRS = −−
2 S DD + 2 LK RM(1)

where IRM is the peak recovery current.

In addition to the energy loss in the resistor, stored energy in CS will be dissipated in the next turnon of Q2. So, the total energy loss due to snubber network is

1 L I 2
Wtotal = WC + WR = CS VDD2 + −2 LK RMSS(2)In Equation 2, the first term is due to addition of snubber network, but the second term is inevitableeven if a snubber is not used. So, the average power loss due to snubber is:

Psnubber = CS VDD2 f sw
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Designing RC snubbers[1]

The analysis done in shows that there is an optimum snubber resistor value that minimizes thepeak voltage during oscillations once CS is fixed. Using a higher CS value decreases the minimum
peak voltage that can be achieved by using the optimum RS corresponding to that capacitance.
However, CS linearly affects the power loss according to Equation 3. So, the selection of CS isa trade-off between efficiency and peak voltage on the MOSFET. Another benefit of dampening
oscillations, as shown in the next section, is reduced emission levels.
Choosing CS capacitor should follow two conditions. First, it should be big enough to be able tostore more energy than the leakage inductance's initial energy. This condition is to keep the peakvoltage less than 2 x VDD. Second, it should be small enough to fully discharge during the on timeso that it is ready for the next turn off event. To be on the safe side, maximum time constant, tau,can be selected as one tenth of the on time. These conditions yield following limits for CS:

1 C V 2
1 L I 2−−2 S DD > 2 LK RM
LLK IRM2
CS > −VDD2
ton
RS CS < −10

Hence, the range for CS is:ton
CS < −(10 × RS )L LK IRM2
ton
C
<
<
−
−
S
(10 × RS )
VDD2

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

The damping factor, ζ, for this circuit is defined as:

R

S
ζ =−
2

CS
RS
− =−
2 × Z0LLK(9)Once CS value is chosen in the given range according to concerns mentioned above, the damping
factor should be set to somewhere between 0.5 to 1 to achieve minimum peak voltage.

RS< 1
0.5 < −
2 × Z0(10)

Then, the optimum RS value should be in the following range:

Z0 < R S < 2 Z0

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Designing RC snubbers

3. Determining CLK and LLK
Before designing the snubber network, we must first determine the values of CLK and LLK. We
could attempt to measure them directly, but a more elegant method can be used. For the LC circuitin Fig. 3, we know that:1
f RING0 = −2π LLK C
LK(12)Where fRING0 is the frequency of oscillation without a snubber in place; see Figure 2.
If we put an additional capacitor (Cadd) in parallel with Q1, the oscillation frequency shifts fromfRING0 to a lower frequency, fRING1. It can be shown that:C add
x2 − 1f RING0
where, x =f RING1
CLK =See Appendix A.

(13)

So, if we measure the oscillation frequency with and without Cadd in place, we can get fRING1 andfRING0, respectively. Then, we can determine CLK and LLK by using equations (12) and (13).
In our example, initial oscillation frequency (fRING0) is found to be 91.74 MHz; see Fig. 2. Then,
Cadd = 1 nF is added to the circuit and fRING1 is measured as 61.3 MHz; see Fig. 5.
aaa-036125

30
V DS
(V)
20

10

Δt = 16.31 ns
f = 61.3 MHz

0

-10
-20

Fig. 5.

0

20

40

60
80
time (ns)Reverse recovery-induced oscillation in Q2 VDS; with snubber cap added

From Equation 13:

x = 91.74 = 1.497
61.3

Rearranging Equation 12:

AN11160

application note

CLK =1000 pF= 807 pF
1.497 2 − 1

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Designing RC snubbers

1
LLK = −
(2π f RING0 ( 2 CLK(16)

Substituting fRING0 = 91.74 MHz and CLK = 807 pF yields:

1
LLK = −
= 3.73 nH-10
7 2( 2× π × 9.174 × 10 ( × 8.07 × 10

(17)

We can double-check that the new oscillation frequency with the added capacitor gives the same
LLK value when used in Equation 12:

C total = CLK + Cadd0 = 1807 pF

(18)

1
1
LLK = −
= 3.73 nH=−22(2 π × f RING1 ( C total (2× π × 6.13 × 10 7 ( × 1.807 × 10 -9(19)

4. Designing the snubber - in practice
We now have sufficient information to design a snubber for the waveform shown in Figure 2. To
recap:VDD = 20 V
IO = 8 A
fSW = 300 kHz
CLK = 807 pF
LLK = 3.73 nH
As mentioned before, there is no perfect value for CS. Designers must choose a value according
to their performance requirements. Equation 8 should still hold but it generally gives a very wide
range for CS to start with. It has been found that selecting CS in the range of 1 to 2 times CLK isa good starting point in terms of the compromise between power loss and peak voltage. In theexample, it is aimed to almost eliminate the oscillation which would also help us observe the EMI
effect clearly. Therefore, CS is selected as:

CS = 2 × C LK = 1.614 nF(20)

The closest standard value of 1.6 nF is preferred. Using higher values of CS would not reduce thepeak further since almost no overshoot is achieved with 1.6 nF and the optimum RS. However, alower capacitance could be used if peak voltages can be tolerated, and EMI is a lesser concern
than efficiency.
Once CS value is fixed, determining the optimum RS resulting the minimum peak voltage requires acouple of trials in the range given by Equation 11. For CS = 1.6 nF, optimum RS turned out to be:

R S,opt = 1.5 × Z 0 = 1.5 ×

The closest standard value of 2.2 Ω is used.

LLK
3.73
− = 1.5 × − = 2.28 Ω
1.6
CS

(21)

Now we need to check if the chosen CS value is in the allowed range. From the VDS waveform in
Fig. 2, IRM can be calculated roughly as follows:

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Designing RC snubbers

I0
di
8A
I RM = − × t 2 = − × t 2 = − × 4 ns = 3.64 A
t1
11 ns
dt

(22)

Taking minimum duty cycle Dmin = 10%, we get:

D

0.1

min
t on(min) = −= −= 33 µs
f SW
300 × 10 3

(23)

Evaluating Equation 8 yields:-6-90.33 × 10
3.73 × 10 × 3.64 2
CS < −<−(10 × 2.2 )
20 2

(24)

124 pF < CS < 15 nF(25)

Verifying that the selected CS value falls in this range completes the snubber design. As can beseen in Fig. 6, placing the snubber across Q2 eliminated the oscillation in the VDS waveform.
Power dissipation in the snubber resistor should be taken into consideration when selecting thecomponents. By using Equation 1, it can be calculated as:

PRS = f sw WRS =For the worked example:

PRS = 1.5 × 10

-4

f sw
2

× ( C S V DD + L LK I RM2 (2× (1.6 × 20 + 3.37 × 3.64 2 ( ≈ 103 mW
2

(26)

(27)

So, an SMD resistor of 0805 size with 0.125W power rating or higher should be fine if no significant
derating is needed.
In AC applications of the half-bridge topology, such as 3-phase BLDC, current can obviously flow
in both directions unlike the buck converter presented in this note where it only flows towards theoutput. In that case, RC snubbers may be needed for both devices because when the current
is flowing towards the input, the bottom MOSFET is the active switch and the top MOSFET isfreewheeling. So, oscillation may occur due to the reverse recovery of the top MOSFET as well.
The snubber design technique presented here can be applied to the top (Q1) MOSFET as well.

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Designing RC snubbers
aaa-036138

30
V DS

V DS

ΔV = 7.9 V(V)

ΔV = 2.2 V

(V)

20

20

10

10

0

0

-10
-20

0

20

40

60
80
time (ns)a. Without snubber
Fig. 6.

aaa-036126

30

-10
-20

0

20

40

60
80
time (ns)b. With snubber

Q2 VDS waveform with and without snubber
To investigate the EMI effect of using a snubber, conducted emission tests in the range of 150 kHz
to 150 MHz are done on the example buck converter in accordance with CISPR 25 standard. Fig. 7
shows the resulting emission levels with and without snubber in green and orange, respectively.
In the low frequency region, peaks are observed at the switching frequency, fsw = 300 kHz and its
harmonics as expected. In this case, there is no external EMI filter because the purpose of thisexercise is to show the effect of the snubber on conducted emissions at high frequency. In the highfrequency region, reverse recovery oscillation causes elevated emission levels around fRING0 =91.74 MHz. It is clearly seen that emissions can be decreased significantly with a snubber design
which is optimized for damping.
aaa-xxxx

Level(dBµV)

without snubberwith snubber

M2: 90.48 MHz; 50.98 dBµV

Fig. 7.

M3: 90.42 MHz; 62.55 dBµV

Frequency (Hz)

Effect of snubber on conducted emission
In some cases, adding a snubber across the semiconductor device can cause another oscillation
with a higher frequency than the original one. An example of this situation is presented in Fig. 8.
Studies showed that this behavior is caused by the parasitic inductance of the loop formed by Q2
MOSFET and the snubber network especially when they are placed far from each other. Added
inductance in this loop increases the order of the circuit causing a new ringing.

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Designing RC snubbers
30

aaa-036149

Δt = 6.9 ns
f = 146 MHz

V DS
(V)
20

10

0

Fig. 8.

-20

0

20

40

60

80

time (ns)

Effect of snubber on conducted emission; snubber network is placed far fromMOSFET

To prevent the occurrence of a second high-frequency oscillation, the designer should pay special
attention to placing snubber as close as possible to the switching device during the PCB design
stage. Also, components with low internal inductances should be used. This problem is less likely
to occur with Nexperia’s LFPAK copper clip technology which provides lower parasitic inductancecompared to wire bond technology. As regarding the snubber resistor, thin film chip resistors are
preferred which have lower inductances compared to thick film type and leaded ones like metal
film, carbon film or wire wound. In this application note, surface mount Class I (C0G type) ceramic
capacitors are preferred. These capacitors are well suited for snubber applications because theypresent low ESR and ESL compared to leaded ceramic capacitors and electrolytic capacitor types.
Furthermore, Class 1 ceramic capacitors have better capacitance stability than other ceramicclasses and they are not susceptible to aging. Surface mount film capacitors are also a good
choice for snubber applications especially at high voltage levels. If it is too late to make anychanges in the design and such waveform is observed during testing when snubber is placed, thetwo ringing frequencies should be measured first. Then, the method described in this note can beapplied for the low frequency component. High frequency one can be eliminated by adding a series
element to the gate of the MOSFET. A small value resistor or a ferrite bead with a high impedanceat the ringing frequency can help solving this issue with the cost of increasing switching losses.

5. Summary
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

AN11160

application note

Reverse recovery effects in power devices can induce high frequency oscillations.
A common technique for suppressing the oscillations is the use of an RC snubber.
Design of an effective snubber requires the extraction of the circuit parasitic capacitance andinductance. A method has been demonstrated for doing this.
The snubbed circuit has been shown to be a variation on the classic RLC circuit with an initialcondition.
It has been explained that there is no perfect snubber design. It is a matter of compromise
between damping the oscillations and keeping the energy loss low.
A method of determining values of snubber components has been demonstrated. The method
has been shown to work well, using the example of BUK7Y2R0-40H MOSFETs.
Effects of snubber on EMI has been demonstrated with an example CISPR25 conductedemission measurement.
Importance of correct component selection and good PCB design in term of snubber
effectiveness has been discussed.

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Designing RC snubbers

6. Appendix A; determining CLK from Cadd, fRING0 and fRING1
We know that:1
f RING0 = −2π LLK C
LK(28)

where fRING0 is the frequency of oscillation without a snubber in place and LLK and CLK are theparasitic inductances and capacitances respectively.
If we add capacitor Cadd across Q2 drain-source, fRING0 is reduced by an amount “x” where:f RING01= −2π LLK ( C + C (
add
LK

x

(29)

therefore:

x
1
− = −
2π LLK ( C + C (2π LLK C
add
LK
LK

(30)

x
1
− = −
LLK ( CLK + C add (LLK CLK(31)

LLK ( CLK + C add (LLK CLK = −

(32)

x

CLK =

CLK + C addx2

CLK x 2 − CLK= C add

CLK ) x 2− 1 ) = C add
CLK =

C add
x2 − 1

(33)
(34)
(35)
(36)

where:f

x = f RING0
RING1

(37)

7. References
1. W. McMurray, "Optimum Snubbers for Power Semiconductors," in IEEE Transactions on
Industry Applications, vol. IA-8, no. 5, pp. 593-600, Sept. 1972, doi: 10.1109/TIA.1972.349788.

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8. Revision history
Table 1. Revision history
Revision
Date
numberDescription

3.0

2023-02-03

Various updates.

2.0

2021-05-18

Document revised to use latest Nexperia branding and legal information.

1.0

2012-04-25

Initial version.

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List of Tables
Table 1. Revision history....................................................11

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List of Figures
Fig. 1. The half-bridge circuit............................................... 2
Fig. 2. Reverse recovery-induced oscillation in Q2 VDS......2
Fig. 3. Equivalent circuit.......................................................3
Fig. 4. Equivalent circuit with snubber components RS
and CS................................................................................. 3
Fig. 5. Reverse recovery-induced oscillation in Q2
VDS; with snubber cap added............................................. 5
Fig. 6. Q2 VDS waveform with and without snubber............8
Fig. 7. Effect of snubber on conducted emission................. 8
Fig. 8. Effect of snubber on conducted emission;
snubber network is placed far from MOSFET......................9

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Contents
1. Introduction................................................................... 2
2. Designing the snubber - theory.................................. 2
3. Determining CLK and LLK............................................. 5
4. Designing the snubber - in practice........................... 6
5. Summary....................................................................... 9
6. Appendix A; determining CLK from Cadd, fRING0
and fRING1.......................................................................... 10
7. References.................................................................. 10
8. Revision history..........................................................11
9. Legal information........................................................12© Nexperia B.V. 2023. All rights reserved

For more information, please visit: http://www.nexperia.com
For sales office addresses, please send an email to: salesaddresses@nexperia.com
Date of release: 3 February 2023

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