Fundamentals of MOSFET and IGBT Gate Driver Circuits

The main purpose of this application report is to demonstrate a systematic approach to design high-performance gate drive circuits for high-speed switching applications. It is an informative collection of topics offering a “one-stop-shopping” to solve the most common design challenges. Therefore, it should be of interest to power electronics engineers at all levels of experience. The most popular circuit solutions and their performance are analyzed, including the effect of parasitic components, transient and extreme operating conditions. The discussion builds from simple to more complex problems starting with an overview of MOSFET technology and switching operation. Design procedure for ground referenced and high side gate drive circuits, AC coupled and transformer isolated solutions are described in great details. A special section deals with the gate drive requirements of the MOSFETs in synchronous rectifier applications. For more information, see the Overview for MOSFET and IGBT Gate Drivers product page.

Several, step-by-step numerical design examples complement the application report.

Fundamentals of MOSFET and IGBT Gate Driver Circuits – [PDF]

Please follow and like us: