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 Dual-Channel Resonant Gate Drive Circuit for Low Gate Drive Loss and Low Switching Loss

Abstract: At high-frequency applications, the gate drive loss of the power metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) becomes quite significant. A new dual-channel low side resonant gate drive circuit is proposed in this paper. The proposed drive circuit can provide two symmetrical drive signals for driving two MOSFETs. It charges and discharges the MOSFET gate capacitor with a constant current source. Both gate drive loss and, more importantly, switching loss can be reduced significantly. The proposed resonant gate drive circuit can be used to drive the synchronous MOSFETs in a current doubler or full-wave rectifier configuration. It can also be used to drive the primary MOSFETs in push-pull converters. Analysis, computer simulation, and experimental results show that significant power loss reduction is achieved by the proposed circuit.

Novel AC-Coupled Gate Driver for Ultrafast Switching of Normally Off SiC JFETs

Abstract: Over the last years, more and more SiC power semiconductor switches have become available in order to prove their superior behavior. A very promising device is the 1200 V 30 A JFET manufactured by SemiSouth. It features a very low on-resistance per die area (2.8 mΩ-cm2), switching within 20 ns, normally off characteristic, high-temperature operation and has already been commercialized in contrast to many other SiC switches. To fully exploit the potential of the SiC normally off JFET, conventional gate drivers for unipolar devices must be adapted to this device due to its special requirements. During on-state, the gate voltage must not exceed 3 V, while a current of around 300 mA (depending on the desired on-resistance) must be fed into the gate; during switching operation, the transient gate-source voltage should be around ±15 V and the low threshold voltage of less than 0.7 V requires a high noise immunity which is a severe challenge as the device has a comparably low gate-source but high gate-drain capacitance. To meet these requirements, several concepts have been published recently. They deal with the challenges mentioned, but they still show certain limitations (e.g., frequency and duty cycle limitations or need for additional cooling due to high gate driver losses). In this paper, a novel gate driver consisting of only one standard gate driver IC, resistors, capacitors, and diodes is designed and experimentally validated. It supplies enough gate current for minimum on-resistance, allows fast switching operation, features a high noise immunity, and can be used for any duty cycle and typical switching frequencies without significant self-heating.

Fast-clamped short-circuit protection of IGBT's

Abstract: Identification of fault current during the operation of a power semiconductor switch and activation of suitable remedial actions are important for reliable operation of power converters. A short circuit is a basic and severe fault situation in a circuit structure, such as voltage-source converters. This paper presents a new active protection circuit for fast and precise clamping and safe shutdown of fault currents of the insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs). This circuit allows operation of the IGBTs with a higher on-state gate voltage, which can thereby reduce the conduction loss in the device without compromising the short-circuit protection characteristics. The operation of the circuit is studied under various conditions, considering variation of temperature, rising rate of fault current, gate voltage value and protection circuit parameters. An evaluation of the operation of the circuit is made using IGBTs from different manufacturers to confirm the effectiveness of the protection circuit.

Non-isolated buck–boost dc–dc converter with quadratic voltage gain ratio

Abstract: A new transformer-less buck-boost converter is proposed, which owns a quadratic voltage gain ratio. The proposed converter (a) has only one active switch, which makes the implementation of the gate driver and control system simpler; (b) has a quadratic voltage gain without using a transformer, which equips the designers to obtain a high-voltage gain ratio and avoid the complexity of magnetic utilisations; (c) works both in step-up or step-down mode, while most of the existing quadratic topologies are able to work either in step-up or step-down mode; and (d) shares a common ground between the input and output terminals. The operating states of the proposed converter along with its steady-state performance are analysed. Then, the small-signal modelling and the power loss analysis are performed. A comparison shows the unique features of the converter, specifically in terms of voltage gain ratio and the count of power switches. Finally, the experimental results of a laboratory prototype, as well as the simulation results from PSIM software, are used for validation. The converter was tested in different conditions to inspect its transient response and to record its efficiency. The maximum recorded efficiencies in boost and buck modes, respectively were 94.7 and 93%.

A Very High Frequency DC–DC Converter Based on a Class ${\bm \Phi}_{\bm 2}$ Resonant Inverter

Abstract: This paper introduces a new dc-dc converter suitable for operation at very high frequencies (VHF) under on-off control. The converter power stage is based on a resonant inverter (the Φ2 inverter) providing low switch voltage stress and fast settling time compared to other resonant topologies. A new multistage resonant gate driver suited for driving large, high-voltage RF Mosfet at VHF frequencies is also introduced. Experimental results are presented from a prototype dc-dc converter operating at 30 MHz at input voltages up to 200 V and power levels above 200 W under closed-loop control. These results demonstrate the high performance achievable with the proposed design.