Design of an advanced programmable current-source gate driver for dynamic control of SiC device

Xiang Wang, Haimeng Wu, Volker Pickert

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)
42 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Silicon carbide (SiC) power devices outperform Silicon-based devices in operational voltage levels, power densities, operational temperatures and switching frequencies. However, the gate oxide of SiC-based device is more fragile compared with its Si counterpart. The vulnerability of the gate oxide in SiC power devices requires the development of a gate driver that is able to have more control during the turn-on and turn-off process. This paper proposes an innovative current-source gate driver where the gate current can be fully programmed. The novelty of the gate driver is that the dynamic switching transients and the static on/off-state can be controlled independently. In order to achieve this approach, a signal decomposition and reconstruction technique is proposed to apply the separate control over the dynamic switching transient and the static on/off-state gate voltage respectively. The fundamental principle of the proposed circuit is verified in simulation. In addition, a prototype of the active gate driver has been built and tested to validate the effectiveness of the flexible control over the gate voltage.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication34th Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, APEC 2019
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages1370-1374
Number of pages5
ISBN (Electronic)9781538683309
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 17 Mar 2019
Externally publishedYes
Event34th Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, APEC 2019 - Anaheim, United States
Duration: 17 Mar 201921 Mar 2019

Publication series

NameConference Proceedings - IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition - APEC
Volume2019-March

Conference

Conference34th Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, APEC 2019
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityAnaheim
Period17/03/1921/03/19

Keywords

  • Active gate driver
  • Current-source
  • Dynamic control
  • SiC Device

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