Dual gate mosfet devices and pre-charging techniques for dc link capacitors

A circuit comprising:

• a dual gate metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) device formed in a semiconductor material, the dual gate MOSFET device including a first MOSFET formed in the semiconductor material, and a second MOSFET formed in the semiconductor material, wherein the first MOSFET and the second MOSFET are arranged in parallel in the semiconductor material, wherein the first MOSFET and the second MOSFET include a common drain node and a common source node, and wherein the first MOSFET and the second MOSFET define different transfer characteristics;
• one or more driver circuits configured to control the first MOSFET and the second MOSFET based on gate voltage signals;
• and
• a direct current (DC) link capacitor, wherein one or more driver circuits are configured to control the first MOSFET according to a pre-charging routine to pre-charge the DC link capacitor,
• wherein following the pre-charging routine, the one or more driver circuits are configured to control the second MOSFET to turn on the second MOSFET in the presence of the pre-charge on the DC link capacitor,
• wherein the pre-charging routine to pre-charge the DC link capacitor includes controlling the first MOSFET so as to create increasing energy delivered to the DC link capacitor over time during the pre-charging routine.

A method comprising:

• controlling a dual gate metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) device formed in a semiconductor material, the dual gate MOSFET device including a first MOSFET formed in the semiconductor material, and a second MOSFET formed in the semiconductor material, wherein the first MOSFET and the second MOSFET are arranged in parallel in the semiconductor material, wherein the first MOSFET and the second MOSFET include a common drain node and a common source node, and wherein the first MOSFET and the second MOSFET define different transfer characteristics, wherein controlling the dual gate MOSFET includes:
• controlling the first MOSFET according to a pre-charging routine associated with a direct current (DC) link capacitor, wherein the pre-charging routine to pre-charge the DC link capacitor includes controlling the first MOSFET so as to create increasing energy delivered to the DC link capacitor over time during the pre-charging routine;
• and
• following the pre-charging routine, controlling the second MOSFET to turn on the second MOSFET in the presence of a pre-charge on the DC link capacitor.