Gate driver

About: Gate driver is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 7532 publications have been published within this topic receiving 75854 citations.

A new nano-electro-mechanical field effect transistor (NEMFET) design for low-power electronics

Abstract: An accumulation-mode design for nanometer-scale electromechanical-gate field effect transistors (NEMFETs) is proposed and studied via simulation In the off state, the gate electrode is in contact with the thin gate dielectric and short-channel effects are effectively suppressed In the on state, the gate electrode is separated from the thin gate dielectric so that the threshold voltage VT is dynamically lowered and the transistor drive current I on is enhanced, and gate leakage is eliminated The NEMFET can likely meet performance specifications for low-power applications at 25 nm gate length, and is attractive for scaled supply voltage operation

A novel resonant gate driver for high frequency synchronous buck converters

Abstract: This paper introduces a new resonant gate driver for both the top and bottom switches of a synchronous buck converter. A coupled inductor is used to reduce the size as well as to transfer energy between the top and bottom gate driving. A possible semiconductor integration approach is proposed for this resonant gate driver based on a self-adaptive control method. Theoretical analysis, simulation and experimental results prove that the proposed driver can greatly reduce the gate driving loss and that it is well suited to high-frequency applications.

Power electronic transformers for utility applications

Abstract: The concept of realizing a small size "solid-state" transformer has been discussed for some time. A fairly straightforward approach to accomplish size reduction in a transformer feeding a conventional rectifier-inverter system is to introduce an isolated DC-DC converter in the DC link, isolation being provided by a high frequency transformer. So also, several topologies that employ AC-AC converters connected on primary and secondary sides of a high frequency transformer to reduce the size and weight of the magnetic core have been reported in literature. Such AC-AC converters need switches with bi-directional voltage blocking and current carrying capability, which are commonly realized with pairs of gate turn-off devices such as insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT). This paper explores the possibilities of employing AC-AC switched mode power converters in combination with reactive elements to realize a chopped AC link, thereby decreasing the required magnetic core size for voltage transformation and isolation. A primary advantage of this approach is that, the static power converter needs only six devices to implement a three-phase electronic transformer, which makes it an economical solution. Operating principles, magnetic design and other practical issues are discussed. Detailed computer simulations accompanied with experimental verification are presented in the paper.

Cascode current sensor for discrete power semiconductor devices

Abstract: A cascode current sensor includes a main MOSFET and a sense MOSFET. The drain terminal of the main MOSFET is connected to a power device whose current is to be monitored, and the source and gate terminals of the main MOSFET are connected to the source and gate terminals, respectively, of the sense MOSFET. The drain voltages of the main and sense MOSFETs are equalized, in one embodiment by using a variable current source and negative feedback. The gate width of the main MOSFET is typically larger than the gate width of the sense MOSFET. Using the size ratio of the gate widths, the current in the main MOSFET is measured by sensing the magnitude of the current in the sense MOSFET. Inserting the relatively large MOSFET in the power circuit minimizes power loss.

Reliability Improvement of Power Converters by Means of Condition Monitoring of IGBT Modules

Abstract: Power electronic systems have gradually gained an important status in a wide range of industrial applications such as renewable generation, motor drives, automotive, and railway transportation. Accordingly, recent research makes an effort to improve the reliability of power electronic systems to comply with more stringent constraints on safety, cost, and availability. The power devices are one of the most reliability-critical components in power electronic systems. Therefore, its condition monitoring plays an important role to improve the reliability of power electronic systems. This paper proposes a condition monitoring method of insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules. In the first section of this paper, a structure of a conventional IGBT module and a related parameter for the condition monitoring are explained. Then, a proposed real-time on-state collector–emitter voltage measurement circuit and condition monitoring strategies under different operating conditions are described. Finally, experimental results confirm the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.