A3983
DMOS Microstepping Driver with Translator
Application Layout
be created using the exposed thermal pad under the device, to
serve both as a low impedance ground point and thermal path.
Layout. The printed circuit board should use a heavy ground-
plane. For optimum electrical and thermal performance, the
A3983 must be soldered directly onto the board. On the under-
side of the A3983 package is an exposed pad, which provides a
The two input capacitors should be placed in parallel, and as
close to the device supply pins as possible. The ceramic capaci-
path for enhanced thermal dissipation. The thermal pad should be tor (CIN1) should be closer to the pins than the bulk capacitor
(CIN2). This is necessary because the ceramic capacitor will be
responsible for delivering the high frequency current components.
The sense resistors, RSx, should have a very low impedance
path to ground, because they must carry a large current while
supporting very accurate voltage measurements by the current
sense comparators. Long ground traces will cause additional
voltage drops, adversely affecting the ability of the comparators
to accurately measure the current in the windings. The SENSEx
pins have very short traces to the RSx resistors and very thick,
low impedance traces directly to the star ground underneath the
device. If possible, there should be no other components on the
sense circuits.
soldered directly to an exposed surface on the PCB. Thermal vias
are used to transfer heat to other layers of the PCB.
In order to minimize the effects of ground bounce and offset
issues, it is important to have a low impedance single-point
ground, known as a star ground, located very close to the device.
By making the connection between the pad and the ground plane
directly under the A3983, that area becomes an ideal location for
a star ground point. A low impedance ground will prevent ground
bounce during high current operation and ensure that the supply
voltage remains stable at the input terminal. The star ground can
Solder
A3983
Trace (2 oz.)
Signal (1 oz.)
Ground (1 oz.)
PCB
Thermal (2 oz.)
Thermal Vias
OUT2B
C6
C3
GND
U1
A3983
GND
CP1
C4
GND
C3
GND
C5
ENABLE
OUT2B
CP2
VCP
OUT2A
OUT1A
R4
R5
C4
C5
VBB2
SENSE2
OUT2A
OUT1A
SENSE1
VBB1
C6
PAD
VREG
ROSC
C1
R4
R5
MS1
MS2
GND
RESET
ROSC
ROSC
SLEEP
OUT1B
OUT1B
DIR
BULK
VDD
STEP
REF
GND
GND
GND
C1
GND
C2
GND
CAPACITANCE
C2
VDD
V
BB
VDD
VBB
Allegro MicroSystems, Inc.
115 Northeast Cutoff, Box 15036
7
Worcester, Massachusetts 01615-0036 (508) 853-5000
www.allegromicro.com