New adaptive driving technique for high current gate controlled devices

MOSFETs and IGBTs devices are increasingly used in electronic circuits due to both the easy driving and the capability to handle high currents and voltages at high switching frequencies. This paper deals with a new driver circuit that allows optimisation of the switching speed, reduction of the energy losses during the switching time, and limiting of the electromagnetic interference (EMI). Firstly an analysis of voltage and current switching waveforms of gate insulated devices is performed. Hence, it is shown how to control voltage and current slopes independently by using a suitable adaptive driving technique based on a PLL approach. Such a technique has been adapted in order to correctly generate the gate signals regardless of the operating conditions. Finally, practical tests of the proposed driving circuit obtained using a single switch converter and IGBT devices are reported.