You may be sat there thinking, well so what!, but when using the MOSFET as a switch to control DC motors or electrical loads with high inrush currents the “ON” Channel resistance ( RDS(on) ) between the drain and the source is very important. For example, MOSFETs that control DC motors, are subjected to a high in-rush current when the motor first begins to rotate, because the motors starting current is only limited by the very low resistance value of the motors windings.
As the basic power relationship is: P = I2R, then a high RDS(on) channel resistance value would simply result in large amounts of power being dissipated and wasted within the MOSFET itself resulting in an excessive temperature rise, which if not controlled could result in the MOSFET becoming very hot and damaged due to a thermal overload.
A lower value RDS(on) on the other hand, is also a desirable parameter as it helps to reduce the channels effective saturation voltage ( VDS(sat) = ID x RDS(on) ) across the MOSFET and will therefore operate at a cooler temperature. Power MOSFETs generally have a RDS(on) value of less than 0.01Ω which allows them to run cooler, extending their operational life span.
One of the main limitations when using a MOSFET as a switching device is the maximum drain current it can handle. So the RDS(on) parameter is an important guide to the switching efficiency of the MOSFET and is simply given as the ratio of VDS / ID when the transistor is switched “ON”.
When using a MOSFET or any type of field effect transistor for that matter as a solid-state switching device it is always advisable to select ones that have a very low RDS(on) value or at least mount them onto a suitable heatsink to help reduce any thermal runaway and damage. Power MOSFETs used as a switch generally have surge-current protection built into their design, but for high-current applications the bipolar junction transistor is a better choice.
Power MOSFET Motor Control
Because of the extremely high input or gate resistance that the MOSFET has, its very fast switching speeds and the ease at which they can be driven makes them ideal to interface with op-amps or standard logic gates. However, care must be taken to ensure that the gate-source input voltage is correctly chosen because when using the MOSFET as a switch the device must obtain a low RDS(on) channel resistance in proportion to this input gate voltage.
Low threshold type power MOSFETs may not switch “ON” until a least 3V or 4V has been applied to its gate and if the output from the logic gate is only +5V logic it may be insufficient to fully drive the MOSFET into saturation. Using lower threshold MOSFETs designed for interfacing with TTL and CMOS logic gates that have thresholds as low as 1.5V to 2.0V are available.
Power MOSFETs can be used to control the movement of DC motors or brushless stepper motors directly from computer logic or by using pulse-width modulation (PWM) type controllers. As a DC motor offers high starting torque and which is also proportional to the armature current, MOSFET switches along with a PWM can be used as a very good speed controller that would provide smooth and quiet motor operation.