Reduction of Mode Conversion of Differential-Mode Noise to Common-Mode Noise by Printed Circuit Board Modification for Unbalanced EMI Filter Network

This paper presents a method for the reduction of mode conversion from differential-mode (DM) noise to common-mode (CM) noise in an unbalanced EMI filter. The unbalanced nature in the EMI filter is a result of not incorporating all the required filter components due to space and cost constraints or due to the parasitic impedances of a printed circuit board (PCB). It is demonstrated that the reduction of mode conversion from DM noise to CM noise can be achieved by modifying the current path on the ground (GND) layer of the PCB of the unbalanced EMI filter. The currents on the GND layer are guided to take a longer route by introducing a “cutout” to the ground plane in the PCB, which increases the impedance of the current path on the GND layer. This approach does not require additional components to the EMI filter for the reduction of CM noise due to the mode conversion. Simulations show that the cutout decreases the CM noise converted from the DM noise by at least 4 dB in the AM radio frequency band (530 kHz – 1.8 MHz).