Dickson Architecture And Novel Switching Techniques Enhance Charge Pump Benefits
by Soojin Chung and Jason Ngai, pSemi, San Jose, Calif., How2Power Today, Jun 15 2025
Focus:
The charge pump or capacitor divider is increasing in popularity in high-efficiency power
conversion, particularly for slim, low-profile, battery powered applications. This article
explains several aspects of charge pump design employed in pSemi regulators to improve
their efficiency and other aspects of their performance. It starts by describing the
Dickson charge pump architecture, and then explains pSemi’s adiabatic or lossless soft
switching which mitigates losses due to charge redistribution. Next it discusses the use
of multiple divide-by ratios and how pSemi charge pumps transition seamlessly (without
glitches) between ratios. Some design examples are shared to illustrate the benefits of
multiple divide-by ratios. The article also discusses pros and cons of charge pumps and
compares them with buck regulators.
What you’ll learn:
- How to understand the benefits of the Dickson architecture, adiabatic soft switching, and multiple divide-by ratios to the performance of charge pump regulators
- How to improve power conversion efficiency by using a charge pump followed by a buck regulator in battery-powered systems
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