i am driving a 40 mH load with 4 amps from a mosfet at 12 volts.
the mosfet can only handle of .25 joules. and it clamps at -16 volts
Energy= .5*40mh*4^2=.32 joules which is over the spec of my driver
how can I protect my driver during an turn off which causes inductive kickback.
is there way to protect my device without upgrading it?
Yes. Provide external clamping. Place a reverse biased diode (or zener) across the load and make sure that it can dissipate the required energy.
If you choose a zener diode, be aware that it conducts in either polarity, but at different breakdown voltages.
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