A Dual-Channel Gate Driver Design with Active Voltage Balancing Circuit for Series Connection of SiC MOSFETs

Abstract

Dual-channel gate driver is commonly utilized in the industry for accommodating the widespread use of half-bridge power modules. As wide-bandgap devices become increasingly prevalent due to their superior switching characteristics compared with conventional silicon devices, this paper proposes a gate driver design for SiC MOSFET half-bridge module. In particular, for adapting to the case of higher voltage requirement, the proposed design includes a novel active voltage balancing circuit, which contributes to the aggregation of half-bridge module into a single device with double voltage rating. Targeting at 3.3kV/700A SiC MOSFET half-bridge power module, this paper provides a comprehensive elaboration of this gate driver, including background, conceptual design and detailed implementation. Finally, the experimental results are provided to demonstrate the operational performances.