High-voltage bidirectional switch device with improved electrical characteristics

A charge recovery resonant driver, comprising:

• a first capacitive actuator, coupled to a first charge exchange terminal selectively alternately connectable to a supply terminal having a high voltage and a ground reference terminal;
• and
• a second capacitive actuator, coupled to a second charge exchange terminal selectively alternately connectable to the supply terminal and the ground reference terminal;
• a plurality of tank capacitors each coupled to a respective pair of devices and selectively connectable to the first charge exchange device by a first switch device of the pair and to the second charge exchange terminal by a second switch device of the pair, wherein each switch device includes
• a bidirectional switch including:
• a first switch MOS transistor having a drain terminal connected to a first switch terminal, a source terminal connected to an internal source node, and a gate terminal connected to an internal gate node;
• a second switch MOS transistor having a drain terminal connected to a second switch terminal, a source terminal connected to the internal source node and a gate terminal connected to the internal gate node;
• and
• a voltage limiting element connected between the internal gate and source nodes;
• and
• a driving stage voltage-referred to the internal source node and configured to drive switching of the bidirectional switch as a function of a first driving signal and a second driving signal, the driving stage including a driving transistor and a switching transistor connected to each other.

A method, comprising:

• driving a bidirectional switch of a switch device with a driving stage based on a first driving signal and a second driving signal, the driving stage including a driving transistor and a switching transistor connected to each other, the bidirectional switch including a first switch MOS transistor and a second switch MOS transistor coupled together between a first switch terminal and a second switch terminal at an internal source node, an internal gate coupled to the internal source by a voltage limiting device, to gate terminals of the first and switch MOS transistors, and to an output of the driving stage;
• providing a supply voltage to a drain terminal of the driving transistor;
• charging the internal gate node and turning on the bidirectional switch in a turn-on interval of the switch device by driving the driving transistor with the first driving signal;
• and
• short-circuiting the internal gate and source nodes and turning off the bidirectional switch in a turn-off interval of the switch device by driving the switching transistor with the second driving signal.