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Peak Atlas DCA Pro
User Guide
June 2019
–
Rev 1.7
Page 22
Enhancement Mode MOSFETs
MOSFET stands for
Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect
Transistor
. They are available in two main types, N-Channel
and P-Channel. Most modern MOSFETs are of
the
Enhancement Mode type, meaning that the bias of the gate-source voltage is
always positive (For N-Channel types). The other (rarer) type of MOSFET is
the Depletion Mode type which is described in a later section.
MOSFETs of all types have an insulated gate which results in negligible gate
current for both positive and negative gate-source voltages (up to the maximum
allowed values of course, typically ±8V to ±20V).
The first screen to be displayed gives
information on the type of MOSFET
detected and the pinout.
Pressing
scroll-off
will then result in
the gate threshold and other parameters
of the MOSFET to be displayed.
The (on) gate threshold voltage is the
gate-source voltage at which conduction
between the source and drain starts. The
DCA Pro
determines that drain-source
conduction has started when it reaches a
current of 5.00mA, this is confirmed on
the display.
An enhancement MOSFET will typically be
“
off
”
when the gate-source
voltage is 0V.
The
DCA Pro
can drive the gate from 0V to 8V for enhancement mode
MOSFETs.