Gate drive and switching considerations
The gate-source voltage is rated to ±30 V, providing margin against overshoot in hard-switched topologies.
Thermal and power dissipation
Maximum power dissipation is 190 W at case temperature, but the practical limit is set by the junction-to-case thermal resistance and the heatsink. The TO-220 package allows mounting to a heatsink with a thermal pad or mica insulator — the tab is the drain terminal, so electrical isolation is required in most designs. At 9 A continuous drain current, the conduction loss at 900 mOhm is 73 W — exceeding the package's dissipation capability without a substantial heatsink. In practice, the device is used at lower average currents or in pulsed operation where the thermal time constant of the heatsink absorbs the peak power.