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US 12,620,987 B2Granted
Current gate driver for wide bandgap semiconductor transistor
AssigneeMonolithic Power Systems, Inc.
InventorAbel Borras Serra
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A gate driver has a turn-on circuit and a turn-off circuit. The turn-on circuit pulls up a gate terminal of a wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor transistor and turns on the WBG semiconductor transistor in response to a first status of an on-off control signal. The turn-off circuit pulls down the gate terminal of the WBG semiconductor transistor and turns off the WBG semiconductor transistor in response to a second status of the on-off control signal. When the on-off control signal transits to the first status, the turn-on circuit drives the gate terminal of the WBG semiconductor transistor at a first constant driving current, and later switches to a second constant driving current. The second constant driving current is lower than the first constant driving current.
Claims20
A current gate driver for a wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor transistor, comprising:
- an input terminal configured to receive an on-off control signal;
- an output terminal coupled to a gate terminal of the WBG semiconductor transistor;
- a turn-on circuit coupled to the output terminal, to drive the WBG semiconductor transistor by providing a gate current flowing into the gate terminal of the WBG semiconductor transistor via the output terminal in response to a first status of the on-off control signal;
- and
- a turn-off circuit coupled to the output terminal, to pull down the gate terminal of the WBG semiconductor transistor and turn off the WBG semiconductor transistor in response to a second status of the on-off control signal;
- wherein
- when the on-off control signal transits to the first status, the turn-on circuit is configured to drive the gate terminal of the WBG semiconductor transistor at a first constant driving current first, and later after a gate voltage of the WBG semiconductor transistor is charged to a maximum value, in response to the gate current dropping below a first threshold, the turn-on circuit switches and is configured to provide a second constant driving current to drive the gate terminal of the WBG semiconductor transistor, and the second constant driving current is lower than the first constant driving current.
4 more elements
A gate driving method for a wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor transistor, comprising:
- providing an output terminal coupled to a gate terminal of the WBG semiconductor transistor;
- using an input terminal for receiving an on-off control signal;
- using a turn-on circuit coupled to the output terminal for driving the WBG semiconductor transistor by providing a gate current flowing into the gate terminal of the WBG semiconductor transistor via the output terminal in response to a first status of the on-off control signal;
- using a turn-off circuit coupled to the output terminal for pulling down the gate terminal of the WBG semiconductor transistor and turning off the WBG semiconductor transistor in response to a second status of the on-off control signal;
- in response to a transition to the first status of the on-off control signal, causing the turn-on circuit to first drive a first constant driving current to the gate terminal of the WBG semiconductor transistor to turn on the WBG semiconductor transistor;
- later after a voltage of the gate terminal of the WBG semiconductor transistor is charged to a maximum value, in response to the gate current dropping below a first threshold, causing the turn-on circuit to automatically switch and be configured to provide and deliver a second constant driving current to the gate terminal of the WBG semiconductor transistor to keep the WBG semiconductor activated, wherein the second constant driving current is lower than the first constant driving current;
- and
- in response to the second status of the on-off control signal, pulling down the gate terminal of the WBG semiconductor transistor to turn off the WBG semiconductor transistor.
5 more elements
A current gate driver, comprising:
- an input pin configured to receive an on-off control signal;
- a power supply pin configured to be coupled to a power supply;
- and
- a first output pin and a second output pin coupled to a gate terminal of a wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor transistor;
- a turn-on circuit coupled to the second output pin, configured to drive the WBG semiconductor transistor by providing a gate current flowing into the gate terminal of the WBG semiconductor transistor via the second output pin in response to a first status of the on-off control signal;
- and
- a turn-off circuit coupled to the first output pin, configured to pull down the gate terminal of the WBG semiconductor transistor and turn off the WBG semiconductor transistor in response to a second status of the on-off control signal;
- wherein
- in response to a transition to the first status of the on-off control signal, the turn-on circuit of the gate driver is configured to first provide to the gate terminal of the WPG semiconductor transistor a first constant driving current via the second output pin first, and later after a gate voltage of the WBG semiconductor transistor is charged to a maximum value, in response to the gate current dropping below a first threshold, the turn-on circuit of the gate drive switches and is configured to provide a second constant driving current, lower than the first constant driving current, via the second output pin, to drive the gate terminal of the WBG semiconductor transistor;
- and wherein
- in response to the second status of the on-off control signal, the turn-off circuit of the gate driver is configured to pull down the gate terminal of the WBG semiconductor transistor via the first output pin.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.