CMOS gate drive IC with embedded cross talk suppression circuitry for SiC devices

Abstract

This paper presents a gate driver integrated circuit (IC) for Silicon Carbide (SiC) devices to fully utilize their high switching speed capabilities in a phase-leg configuration. Based upon the intrinsic properties prevalent in SiC devices, gate assist circuitry is integrated into a gate driver IC to control the gate voltages seen by both devices in a phase-leg during different switching transients. Compared to a traditional gate driver IC, the proposed circuit has the potential of suppressing the cross talk seen by both devices thus increasing the overall switching speed of the phase-leg. The replacement of the conventional gate driver with an IC effectively lowers the gate impedance loop by reducing the number of on-board traces and moving essential traces to inside the chip. Therefore, larger transient currents and higher slew rates can be achieved with an IC compared to nominal commercially available gate driver devices. Meanwhile, the added functionality of cross talk suppression, not normally available in other gate drive IC designs, minimizes the spurious gate voltages from cross talk to within the required operating ranges of SiC devices.