High frequency resonant gate drive for a power MOSFET

A resonant gate drive circuit comprising:

• a power source;
• an inductor having a first winding and a second winding on each side of a center tap, said center tap being coupled to a gate input of a power MOSFET;
• a first MOSFET having a source and drain coupled between said power source and said first winding of said inductor for providing a path for a first portion of a charging current to said gate input of said power MOSFET and a path for a second portion of a discharge current from said gate input;
• a second MOSFET having a source and drain coupled between said second winding of said inductor and a ground reference of said power source for providing a path for a second portion of a charging current to said gate input of said power MOSFET and a path for a first portion of a discharge current from said gate input;
• an input signal coupled to a gate input of said first MOSFET and a gate input of said second MOSFET for controlling the switching of said first MOSFET and said second MOSFET
• a first limiting means coupled between said gate input of said power MOSFET and said power source for limiting a voltage level at said gate input of said power MOSFET to the voltage level of said power source;
• and
• a second limiting means coupled between said gate input of said power MOSFET and said power source for limiting said voltage level at said gate input of said power MOSFET to the ground reference of said power source.

A method for providing a resonant gate drive circuit with energy recovery comprising the steps of:

• providing a power source;
• providing an inductor having a first winding and a second winding on each side of a center tap;
• coupling said center tap to a gate input of a power MOSFET;
• providing a path for a first portion of a charging current to said gate input of said power MOSFET and a path for a second portion of a discharge current from said gate input with a first switching means coupled between said power source and said first winding of said inductor;
• providing a path for a second portion of a charging current to said gate input of said power MOSFET and a path for a first portion of a discharge current from said gate input with a second switching means coupled between said second winding of said inductor and a ground reference of said power source;
• controlling said first switching means and said second switching means with an input signal;
• and
• limiting a voltage level at said gate input to a voltage level of said power source and said ground reference with means coupled to said gate input of said power MOSFET.