Advancements in resonant and current source gate driving techniques for fast switching Wide Band Gap (WBG) Metal Oxide Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs)

Abstract

Traditional methods for driving the Metal Oxide Field Effect Transistor, like the Voltage Source Gate Driver (VSGD), prove to be inefficient for high-frequency operation, especially in applications where Wide-Bandgap devices are used. This is because of their losses and poor control over the switching transitions. This thesis investigates various alternatives, specifically the Multi-Resonant Gate Driver (MRGD) and the Current Source Gate Driver (CSGD). A sweep-based optimization method is presented to increase the MRGD design accuracy and frequency response. Hardware prototypes of the MRGD demonstrate 34% efficiency improvement over VSGD. Furthermore, a new dual-channel Isolated CSGD is proposed, which provides two galvanically isolated gate-drive signals with switching time control. Comparative analysis demonstrates 20% efficiency improvement over VSGD. The design is validated using a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) real-time simulator and the gate switch controller is successfully embedded on a DSP by Texas Instruments, with results that closely matched across simulation and HIL platforms