Resonant Gate Drive Enhances Robustness Of GaN Power Stages

Focus:

Resonant driving of silicon-based power devices has been extensively researched as a means of increasing power supply efficiency. This article explores another use of resonance, which is to enhance robustness of circuit operation in GaN power stages. It demonstrates how the uP1964 GaN driver can be used with lossy ferrite beads in a resonant-gate-drive topology to minimize problems with gate oscillations, improve cross-conduction immunity in half-bridge topologies, and make drive circuit PCB layouts less critical. Simulation and hardware testing are used to demonstrate the ease of design that this driver allows. The author discusses the instruments and test setup used to measure gate drive signals accurately in these experiments.

What you’ll learn:

• How to use resonant gate drive to ease design of GaN power stages
• How to use optically isolated probes to overcome common-mode interference when measuring gate drive signals
• How to use resonant gate drive to reduce high frequency ringing and improve Miller spike immunity

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Author & Publication:

Ron Vinsant, uPI Semiconductor, Mountain View, Calif. , How2Power Today, Jul 15 2024

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