Gate driver

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

Devices, methods, and computer program products for controlling power transfer to an antenna in a wireless mobile terminal

Abstract: A wireless mobile terminal includes an antenna, a power amplifier coupled to the antenna, a power detector coupled to an output of the power amplifier, a phase shifter coupled between the output of the power amplifier and the antenna, and a controller coupled to the phase shifter. The power detector is configured to detect a power of a signal provided by the power amplifier. The controller is configured to adjust the phase shifter responsive to the detected signal power. More particularly, the controller may be configured to adjust the phase shifter to modify a phase component of a reflection coefficient of a load impedance at the power amplifier output without substantially altering a magnitude of the reflection coefficient. Related methods and computer program products are also discussed.

Comparative Study on Multiple Degrees of Freedom of Gate Drivers for Transient Behavior Regulation of SiC MOSFET

Abstract: Because of fast switching speeds and inevitable stray parameters, the efficiency, security, and stability properties of SiC mosfet s in practice are challenged by voltage and current ringing and overshoot. In this paper, the turn-on and off behavior of an SiC mosfet regulated by a gate driver are modeled in detail, and insight mechanisms for suppressing the ringing and overshoot by using gate driver are highlighted. Based on a clamped inductive double-pulse test, many control degrees of freedom, including gate resistance, gate–source capacitance, and gate voltage, are considered and verified by comprehensive experimental results. Although these parameters can regulate the ringing and overshoot, the switching speed of the SiC mosfet decreases and its power loss increases. To balance the tradeoff, a preferred gate driver for an SiC mosfet is recommended.

High speed switching issues of high power rated silicon-carbide devices and the mitigation methods

Abstract: With faster switching speed and much lower conduction and switching losses, Silicon-Carbide (SiC) semiconductor devices are nowadays gaining more favor in power converters applications. 1200 V and 1700 V SiC MOSFETs are commercially available, which enables more efficient and compact design of high power rated converters. However, the high di/dt and dv/dt associated with fast switching as well as the circuit parasitic elements raise various issues. In this paper, a double-pulse characterization fixture is built to test a 1200 V/100 A SiC device, from which the high speed switching issues, including device current and voltage resonances and spikes, gate terminal resonance, cross-talk, gate driver noise, and electromagnetic interference (EMI), are presented. All the switching waveform resonances and their associated parasitic elements are exploited and explained. Results show that due to these issues, the devices are prevented from full utilization of either the safe operation area (SOA) or the maximum switching speed. Finally, the device model considering all the parasitic elements is tested with a soft-switching circuit-resonant DC link converter, showing that the above stated issues are significantly mitigated.

A Fast-Switching Integrated Full-Bridge Power Module Based on GaN eHEMT Devices

Abstract: New packaging solutions and power module structures are required to fully utilize the benefits of emerging commercially available wide bandgap semiconductor devices. Conventional packaging solutions for power levels of a few kilowatt are bulky, meaning important gate driver and measurement circuitry are not properly integrated. This paper presents a fast-switching integrated power module based on gallium nitride enhancement-mode high-electron-mobility transistors, which is easier to manufacture compared with other hybrid structures. The structure of the proposed power module is presented, and the design of its gate driver circuit and board layout structure is discussed. The thermal characteristics of the designed power module are evaluated using COMSOL Multiphysics. An ANSYS Q3D Extractor is used to extract the parasitics of the designed power module, and is included in simulation models of various complexities. The simulation model includes the SPICE model of the gallium nitride devices, and parasitics of components are included by experimentally characterizing them up to 2 GHz. Finally, the designed power module is tested experimentally, and its switching characteristics cohere with the results of the simulation model. The experimental results show a maximum achieved switching transient of 64 V/ns and verify the power loop inductance of 2.65 nH.

Method for electrical detection of bond wire lift-off for power semiconductors

Abstract: A novel approach is presented for detecting bond wire lift-off in power semiconductor devices while they are in operation. The aim is to improve the reliability of power electronic systems. The method comprises a specific bond assembly and an integrated subcircuit as part of the gate driver, and serves to detect bond wire lift-off in parallel switched power devices, a typical end-of-life phenomenon encountered in modules, which results in loss of contact and therefore of controllability. The former is detected and the system is prevented from going abruptly into failure mode, so that the destruction of devices is safely avoided.