Frequency control of MOSFET full bridge power inverter for maximizing output power to megasonic transducer at 3 MHz

The frequency of the MOSFET DC-to-RF power inverter is precisely set at the series resonant frequency of a megasonic transducer by controlling the oscillation frequency of the PLL when the MOSFET DC-to-RF power inverter is used to drive the megasonic transducer having an impedance of as low as 5 to 6 ohms or less. The frequency control system features a current sensor having an effective internal impedance of as low as 0.25 ohm which is negligible compared with the impedance of the megasonic transducer at the series resonant frequency. The impedance of the inverter load composed of the output transducer, matching capacitor, coaxial cable, megasonic transducer, and current sensor is calculated to determine the frequency control range of the PLL. In accordance with the result of calculation, the performance of the phase-frequency comparator, low pass filter, and VCO is decided. When the RF output power of the MOSFET power inverter was 60 W with a power conversion efficiency of 95%, the frequency control range was 2.8 MHz to 3.2 MHz. The PLL covers the range of frequency shifts and variations in the megasonic transducer and VCO.