A low-cost control IC for single-transistor ZVS cold-cathode fluorescent lamp inverters and DC/DC converters

The paper reviews the various inverter topologies for cold-cathode fluorescent lamps, discusses the analysis and control of the class E inverter, and introduces a new control IC developed for such inverters and also for ZVS dc/dc converters. The IC features a zero-voltage detector, switch overdissipation protection, soft start, pulse-by-pulse current limit, overvoltage protection, and on/off switching with a low-current stand-by mode. The primary use of the IC is in inverters for cold-cathode fluorescent lamps for display backlight applications, but the IC is also suitable for controlling ZVS quasi-resonant and multiresonant dc/dc converters.