10.2.2.2 Buck Input Capacitor

Input capacitor should have enough ripple current rating to absorb input switching ripple current. The worst case RMS ripple current is half of the charging current when duty cycle is 0.5. If the converter does not operate at 50% duty cycle, then the worst case capacitor RMS current I_PMID occurs where the duty cycle is closest to 50% and can be estimated by Equation 7:

Equation 7.

Low ESR ceramic capacitor such as X7R or X5R is preferred for input decoupling capacitor and should be placed to the drain of the high side MOSFET and source of the low side MOSFET as close as possible. Voltage rating of the capacitor must be higher than normal input voltage level. 25 V rating or higher capacitor is preferred for up to 14-V input voltage. 8.2-μF capacitance is suggested for typical of 3 A – 5 A charging current.