A 10-MHz resonant gate driver design for LLC resonant DC-DC converters using GaN devices

Abstract

In this paper, an new configurable low-side resonant gate driver circuit based on 5V CMOS process is presented. This gate driver is designed for current Gallium Nitride (GaN) power transistor working up to 10 MHz switching frequency. By updating driving signals and removing off-chip resonant inductors, this gate driver can be working as a conventional non-resonant gate driver. Under resonant gate driving mode, partial of the gate driving power can be recovered to gate driver power supply. Simulation shows up to 30% of gate driving power dissipation reduction can be achieved while driving a single device compared with conventional push-pull gate drivers. We also try to implement a resonant gate driver in a resonant converter. Simulation also shows a similar gate driver power saving is also achieved in a 48-12V LLC resonant DC-DC converter.