INTERACTIVE MODEL · PWR-001-ANIMCOMPANION TO THE BUCK PRIMER

Synchronous Buck Converter — Switching States, Live

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CIN QHS QLS body L COUT LOAD VIN VOUT GND SW
tON path: VIN → QHS → L → load tOFF path: GND → QLS → L → load dead time: LS body diode
LIVE WAVEFORMS — SCROLLING, SYNCHRONIZED TO SCHEMATIC

Watch for: the inductor current IL never stops — it ramps up (slope (VIN−VOUT)/L) while QHS conducts and ramps down (slope −VOUT/L) while QLS conducts. During dead time both gates are low and current freewheels through the LS body diode, dragging VSW one diode drop below ground — the small negative notches on the VSW trace. Move the duty slider: VSW's average (= VOUT) tracks D, and ripple peaks at D = 0.5 (ΔIL ∝ D·(1−D)).