MOSFETs as electronic switches

MOSFETS AS ELECTRONIC SWITCHES

22 JUNE 2025

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Recently, I needed a low-power circuit for one of my battery-operated projects. +Much of the system’s power savings depended on its ability to electronically +switch off components, such as servos, that draw high levels of quiescent +currents. My search for a solution led me to MOSFETs, transistors capable of +controlling circuits operating at voltages far above their own.

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Acknowledgments

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This article is a summary of what I learnt about using MOSFETs as switches. +I’m not an electronics engineer, and this is not an authoritative guide. The +circuits in this post must be considered within the narrow context in which +I’ve used them. All credits for the schematics belong to Simon Fitch.

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Preamble

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For a typical MOSFET-based switch, we can connect a GPIO pin of a +microcontroller to the gate of a logic-level N-channel MOSFET placed on the low +side of the load and tie the gate and the drain pins of the MOSFET with a +pull-down resistor. This would work as long as the power supplies of the +microcontroller and the load don’t share a common ground. Things become more +complicated when they do (e.g., controlling power to a component driven by the +same microcontroller).

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In that scenario, the source potential visible to the load is the difference +between the gate and the threshold potentials of the MOSFET. For example, when +the gate and the threshold potentials are 3.3 V and 1.5 V, the potential the +load sees is 1.8 V. So, to use a low-side N-channel MOSFET, we need the gate +potential to be higher than the source potential, which may not always be +practical. The alternative would be a hide-side switch.

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P-channel high-side switch

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The following schematic shows how a high-side P-channel MOSFET (M1) could +switch power to a 6 V servo driven by a 3.3 V MCU.

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P-channel high-side switching circuit

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When the microcontroller outputs low, the M2 N-channel MOSFET stops conducting. +The R1 resistor pulls the gate of the M1 P-channel MOSFET up to +6 V, switching +the servo off. When the microcontroller outputs high on the GPIO pin, M2’s +source-drain connection starts conducting, causing M1’s gate potential to drop +to 0 V, which switches on power to the servo.

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N-channel high-side switch

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The P-channel high-side switch would be the typical architecture for our use +case. However, if we have access to a potential high enough to safely raise the +gate potential above the threshold such that their difference outputs the source +potential required to drive the load, we can switch on the high side using an +N-channel MOSFET:

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N-channel high-side switching circuit

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In the schematic, both M1 and M2 are N-channel MOSFETs. When the +microcontroller output is low, M2 stops conducting. This causes the M1’s gate +potential to rise above the threshold, turning the servo on. Conversely, a high +output on the GPIO line switches M2 on, which lowers M1’s gate potential. This +switches the servo off. The R2 pull-up resistor prevents the high impedance of +the output pins at power-up from switching the servo on.

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Both topologies require M2 to act as a level converter between circuits +containing the microcontroller and the servo, converting between 0 V and +6 V +or +9 V. M2 is a low-power signal converter carrying less than a milliamp of +current. The gate-source threshold voltage of M2 must be lower than the MCU’s +supply voltage. 2N7000, 2N7002, and BSS138 are popular choices for M2.

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The D1 flyback diodes used in the two topologies safeguard the MOSFET from +voltage spikes caused by inductive loads such as servos.

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A BJT alternative

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A Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) is a simpler, cheaper, and more widely +available type of transistor that can be used as a switch.

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BJT architecture

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In the schematic, when the MCU outputs high, Q2 starts conducting. Q2 amplifies +Q1’s base current. Unlike MOSFETs, which are voltage-driven, BJTs are driven by +base current. Resistors R3 and R4 must be chosen carefully to output the +desired base currents. “How to choose a +transistor as a switch” is an excellent guide on using BJTs as electronic +switches.

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Which topology to choose?

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The professional community appears to prefer MOSFETs over BJTs. MOSFETs are +more efficient when the switch is on. However, they are more challenging to +drive, especially with a 3.3 V MCU, due to the V_GS potentials +required to achieve specified R_DS(on) values (i.e., to turn them on +fully).

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N-channel MOSFETs have lower on-resistance values, making them more efficient +than P-channel ones. They are also cheaper. However, they are harder to drive +on the high side as their gate potential must be higher than the source +potential. This often requires extra circuitry such as MOSFET drivers.

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