Abstract-This paper deals with an active gate drive (AGD) technology for high-power insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT's). It is based on an optimal combination of several requirements necessary for good switching performance under hard-switching conditions. The scheme specifically combines together the slow drive requirements for low noise and switching stress and the fast drive requirements for high-speed switching and low switching energy loss. The gate drive can also effectively dampen oscillations during low-current turn-on transient in the IGBT. This paper looks at the conflicting requirements of the conventional gate drive circuit design and demonstrates using experimental results that the proposed three-stage AGD technique can be an effective solution.Index Terms-Active gate drive, gate drive circuit, gate resistor, insulated gate bipolar transistor switching transient.

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 (IGBT's). This circuit allows operation of the IGBT's with a higher on-state gate voltage, which can thereby reduce the conduction loss in the device without compromising the shortcircuit 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 IGBT's from different manufacturers to confirm the effectiveness of the protection circuit.

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