A workhorse N-channel power MOSFET in TO-220, for switching motors, lamps, heaters, and DC-DC converters. It blocks 100 V drain-source, carries up to 28 A, and has an on-resistance around 0.077 ohm, so it dissipates little when fully on. It is a standard-gate (not logic-level) part: full enhancement needs about 10 V gate-source, so drive it from a gate driver or a 10-12 V rail rather than directly from 3.3 V logic (use the logic-level IRLZ44 for that). The tab and pin 2 are the drain. Pinout is G, D, S.

Pinout

Pin	Name	Type	Function
1	G	input	Gate. Insulated MOS gate controlling drain-source channel conduction; VGS(th) 2.0 to 4.0 V, absolute maximum VGS = ±20 V. Drive with 10 V for full enhancement (RDS(on) = 0.077 Ω).
2	D	passive	Drain. High-side power terminal; VDS(max) = 100 V, continuous ID = 28 A (TC = 25 °C), pulsed IDM = 110 A. Electrically common with the metal mounting tab of the TO-220AB.
3	S	passive	Source. Low-side power terminal and reference for VGS; anode of the integral body diode (continuous IS = 28 A, VSD ≤ 2.5 V at 28 A).

Key specifications

Parameter	Value
Type	N-channel power MOSFET
Drain-source (VDS)	100 V
Continuous drain current (ID)	28 A
RDS(on)	0.077 Ω at VGS=10 V
Gate drive	standard (VGS=10 V for full on)
Power dissipation	150 W
Tab	electrically Drain
Pinout	G-D-S
Package	TO-220

Ordering variants

Same part, different packaging or reel option.

IRF540PbF (TO-220)
IRF540 (TO-220, tube)

CAD (KiCad official)

Symbol: Transistor_FET:IRF540N
Footprint: Package_TO_SOT_THT:TO-220-3_Vertical
3D model: TO-220 (KiCad packages3D)

Provenance

Data extracted from the manufacturer datasheet, not a distributor listing:

Datasheet: Vishay Siliconix datasheet (7 pp, sha256 7002a04312724c95, retrieved 2026-08-17, tier: manufacturer)
Extractor: ds2sf (Claude). Every pin and dimension is cited to a datasheet page; it refuses to fabricate.
CAD: KiCad official libraries (CC-BY-SA 4.0).

Datasheet PDF