Dynamic stability of a closed-loop gate driver enabling digitally controlled slope shaping

TLDR: In this article, a slope shaping gate driver IC is proposed to establish control over the slew rates of current and voltage during the turn-on and turn-off switching transients, which combines the high speed and linearity of a fully-integrated closed-loop analog gate driver, with the advantages of digital control, like flexibility and parameter independency, operating in a predictive cycle-by-cycle regulation.

Abstract: A concept for a slope shaping gate driver IC is proposed, used to establish control over the slew rates of current and voltage during the turn-on and turn-off switching transients. It combines the high speed and linearity of a fully-integrated closed-loop analog gate driver, which is able to perform real-time regulation, with the advantages of digital control, like flexibility and parameter independency, operating in a predictive cycle-by-cycle regulation. In this work, the analog gate drive integrated circuit is partitioned into functional blocks and modeled in the small-signal domain, which also includes the non-linearity of parameters. An analytical stability analysis has been performed in order to ensure full functionality of the system controlling a modern generation IGBT and a superjunction MOSFET. Major parameters of influence, such as gate resistor and summing node capacitance, are investigated to achieve stable control. The large-signal behavior, investigated by simulations of a transistor level design, verifies the correct operation of the circuit. Hence, the gate driver can be designed for robust operation.