Experimental Comparison of High‐Speed Gate Driver Design for 1.2‐kV/120‐A Si IGBT and SiC MOSFET Modules

Abstract

Silicon carbide (SiC) metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) is regarded as an attractive replacement for Si insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) in high-power density applications due to its high switching speed and low switching loss. However, to fully utilise these benefits, the gate driver of the SiC MOSFET needs to be optimised to meet its special driving requirements. Fundamentally, both gate drivers for Si IGBT and SiC MOSFET share similar design methodology since these two power devices have the same MOS-gated structure. However, one of the major challenges in the gate driver design for SiC MOSFET is overcoming the electromagnetic interference, which is resulted from the much higher dv/dt and di/dt ratios during the switching transition. In this study, high-speed gate drivers for Si IGBT and SiC MOSFET power modules of similar ratings of 1.2 kV/120 A have been designed. The performances of gate driver have been experimentally evaluated by a double pulse test. The design considerations of gate driver to enable the replacement of Si IGBT by SiC MOSFET have been conclusively investigated and presented in this study.