Logic-level converter FET












2














I have been using the BSS138 level converter circuit for a while now and today it struck me I get how the voltage is stepped up by the FET or the BSS138 when you are applying say 3.3 V on the LV side.



What happens in the FET to reverse that and make it bidirectional?



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    I have been using the BSS138 level converter circuit for a while now and today it struck me I get how the voltage is stepped up by the FET or the BSS138 when you are applying say 3.3 V on the LV side.



    What happens in the FET to reverse that and make it bidirectional?



    Enter image description here










    share|improve this question









    New contributor




    Tjaart van aswegen is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
    Check out our Code of Conduct.























      2












      2








      2







      I have been using the BSS138 level converter circuit for a while now and today it struck me I get how the voltage is stepped up by the FET or the BSS138 when you are applying say 3.3 V on the LV side.



      What happens in the FET to reverse that and make it bidirectional?



      Enter image description here










      share|improve this question









      New contributor




      Tjaart van aswegen is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.











      I have been using the BSS138 level converter circuit for a while now and today it struck me I get how the voltage is stepped up by the FET or the BSS138 when you are applying say 3.3 V on the LV side.



      What happens in the FET to reverse that and make it bidirectional?



      Enter image description here







      digital-logic power-electronics logic-level fet






      share|improve this question









      New contributor




      Tjaart van aswegen is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.











      share|improve this question









      New contributor




      Tjaart van aswegen is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.









      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited yesterday









      Peter Mortensen

      1,60031422




      1,60031422






      New contributor




      Tjaart van aswegen is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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      asked yesterday









      Tjaart van aswegenTjaart van aswegen

      7810




      7810




      New contributor




      Tjaart van aswegen is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.





      New contributor





      Tjaart van aswegen is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.






      Tjaart van aswegen is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.






















          2 Answers
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          active

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          4














          When the HV side goes low, the body diode becomes forward biased, pulling down the source to a lower voltage than the gate.



          Provided the gate is pulled up to a sufficiently high voltage for that new source voltage to bias the channel into conduction, the gate pullup takes over and fully enhances the channel.






          share|improve this answer





















          • Thanks that helps, but i feel stupid now I found the answer as soon as I posted: cdn.sparkfun.com/tutorialimages/BD-LogicLevelConverter/… that PDF has a great explanation on page 10 and 11 of what happens
            – Tjaart van aswegen
            yesterday






          • 2




            Interestingly I once plotted the BSS138 characteristics in the reverse direction and the threshold was lower than in the forward direction (~0.4V in my case) so the body diode never even conducted in this application.
            – Kevin White
            yesterday










          • I came across this brain tease today at work when I looked at one of my PCB designs and realized that my Drain and Source pins was switched and that got me thinking what actually makes it work says a lot about my PCB design skills LOL
            – Tjaart van aswegen
            yesterday



















          4














          When you apply 3.3V on the LV side the MOSFET turns off (Vgs ~=0) and the 10K resistor R4 pulls the drain up to 5V.



          The only pull-up on either side is the 10K resistors so it can have relatively slow rise time compared to a voltage translator chip.






          share|improve this answer





















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            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes








            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes









            4














            When the HV side goes low, the body diode becomes forward biased, pulling down the source to a lower voltage than the gate.



            Provided the gate is pulled up to a sufficiently high voltage for that new source voltage to bias the channel into conduction, the gate pullup takes over and fully enhances the channel.






            share|improve this answer





















            • Thanks that helps, but i feel stupid now I found the answer as soon as I posted: cdn.sparkfun.com/tutorialimages/BD-LogicLevelConverter/… that PDF has a great explanation on page 10 and 11 of what happens
              – Tjaart van aswegen
              yesterday






            • 2




              Interestingly I once plotted the BSS138 characteristics in the reverse direction and the threshold was lower than in the forward direction (~0.4V in my case) so the body diode never even conducted in this application.
              – Kevin White
              yesterday










            • I came across this brain tease today at work when I looked at one of my PCB designs and realized that my Drain and Source pins was switched and that got me thinking what actually makes it work says a lot about my PCB design skills LOL
              – Tjaart van aswegen
              yesterday
















            4














            When the HV side goes low, the body diode becomes forward biased, pulling down the source to a lower voltage than the gate.



            Provided the gate is pulled up to a sufficiently high voltage for that new source voltage to bias the channel into conduction, the gate pullup takes over and fully enhances the channel.






            share|improve this answer





















            • Thanks that helps, but i feel stupid now I found the answer as soon as I posted: cdn.sparkfun.com/tutorialimages/BD-LogicLevelConverter/… that PDF has a great explanation on page 10 and 11 of what happens
              – Tjaart van aswegen
              yesterday






            • 2




              Interestingly I once plotted the BSS138 characteristics in the reverse direction and the threshold was lower than in the forward direction (~0.4V in my case) so the body diode never even conducted in this application.
              – Kevin White
              yesterday










            • I came across this brain tease today at work when I looked at one of my PCB designs and realized that my Drain and Source pins was switched and that got me thinking what actually makes it work says a lot about my PCB design skills LOL
              – Tjaart van aswegen
              yesterday














            4












            4








            4






            When the HV side goes low, the body diode becomes forward biased, pulling down the source to a lower voltage than the gate.



            Provided the gate is pulled up to a sufficiently high voltage for that new source voltage to bias the channel into conduction, the gate pullup takes over and fully enhances the channel.






            share|improve this answer












            When the HV side goes low, the body diode becomes forward biased, pulling down the source to a lower voltage than the gate.



            Provided the gate is pulled up to a sufficiently high voltage for that new source voltage to bias the channel into conduction, the gate pullup takes over and fully enhances the channel.







            share|improve this answer












            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer










            answered yesterday









            Peter SmithPeter Smith

            13.7k11237




            13.7k11237












            • Thanks that helps, but i feel stupid now I found the answer as soon as I posted: cdn.sparkfun.com/tutorialimages/BD-LogicLevelConverter/… that PDF has a great explanation on page 10 and 11 of what happens
              – Tjaart van aswegen
              yesterday






            • 2




              Interestingly I once plotted the BSS138 characteristics in the reverse direction and the threshold was lower than in the forward direction (~0.4V in my case) so the body diode never even conducted in this application.
              – Kevin White
              yesterday










            • I came across this brain tease today at work when I looked at one of my PCB designs and realized that my Drain and Source pins was switched and that got me thinking what actually makes it work says a lot about my PCB design skills LOL
              – Tjaart van aswegen
              yesterday


















            • Thanks that helps, but i feel stupid now I found the answer as soon as I posted: cdn.sparkfun.com/tutorialimages/BD-LogicLevelConverter/… that PDF has a great explanation on page 10 and 11 of what happens
              – Tjaart van aswegen
              yesterday






            • 2




              Interestingly I once plotted the BSS138 characteristics in the reverse direction and the threshold was lower than in the forward direction (~0.4V in my case) so the body diode never even conducted in this application.
              – Kevin White
              yesterday










            • I came across this brain tease today at work when I looked at one of my PCB designs and realized that my Drain and Source pins was switched and that got me thinking what actually makes it work says a lot about my PCB design skills LOL
              – Tjaart van aswegen
              yesterday
















            Thanks that helps, but i feel stupid now I found the answer as soon as I posted: cdn.sparkfun.com/tutorialimages/BD-LogicLevelConverter/… that PDF has a great explanation on page 10 and 11 of what happens
            – Tjaart van aswegen
            yesterday




            Thanks that helps, but i feel stupid now I found the answer as soon as I posted: cdn.sparkfun.com/tutorialimages/BD-LogicLevelConverter/… that PDF has a great explanation on page 10 and 11 of what happens
            – Tjaart van aswegen
            yesterday




            2




            2




            Interestingly I once plotted the BSS138 characteristics in the reverse direction and the threshold was lower than in the forward direction (~0.4V in my case) so the body diode never even conducted in this application.
            – Kevin White
            yesterday




            Interestingly I once plotted the BSS138 characteristics in the reverse direction and the threshold was lower than in the forward direction (~0.4V in my case) so the body diode never even conducted in this application.
            – Kevin White
            yesterday












            I came across this brain tease today at work when I looked at one of my PCB designs and realized that my Drain and Source pins was switched and that got me thinking what actually makes it work says a lot about my PCB design skills LOL
            – Tjaart van aswegen
            yesterday




            I came across this brain tease today at work when I looked at one of my PCB designs and realized that my Drain and Source pins was switched and that got me thinking what actually makes it work says a lot about my PCB design skills LOL
            – Tjaart van aswegen
            yesterday













            4














            When you apply 3.3V on the LV side the MOSFET turns off (Vgs ~=0) and the 10K resistor R4 pulls the drain up to 5V.



            The only pull-up on either side is the 10K resistors so it can have relatively slow rise time compared to a voltage translator chip.






            share|improve this answer


























              4














              When you apply 3.3V on the LV side the MOSFET turns off (Vgs ~=0) and the 10K resistor R4 pulls the drain up to 5V.



              The only pull-up on either side is the 10K resistors so it can have relatively slow rise time compared to a voltage translator chip.






              share|improve this answer
























                4












                4








                4






                When you apply 3.3V on the LV side the MOSFET turns off (Vgs ~=0) and the 10K resistor R4 pulls the drain up to 5V.



                The only pull-up on either side is the 10K resistors so it can have relatively slow rise time compared to a voltage translator chip.






                share|improve this answer












                When you apply 3.3V on the LV side the MOSFET turns off (Vgs ~=0) and the 10K resistor R4 pulls the drain up to 5V.



                The only pull-up on either side is the 10K resistors so it can have relatively slow rise time compared to a voltage translator chip.







                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered yesterday









                Spehro PefhanySpehro Pefhany

                204k4150408




                204k4150408






















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