Two main parameters govern both the breakdown voltage and the RDSon of the transistor: the doping level and the thickness of the N− epitaxial layer. The thicker the layer and the lower its doping level, the higher the breakdown voltage. On the contrary, the thinner the layer and the higher the doping level, the lower the RDSon (and therefore the lower the conduction losses of the MOSFET). Therefore, it can be seen that there is a trade-off in the design of a MOSFET, between its voltage rating and its ON-state resistance. This is demonstrated by the plot in figure 3.