GTO gate driver circuits for snubbered and zero voltage soft switching converters

A GTO (gate turn-off thyrister) gate driver circuit comprising:

• a GTO;
• a MOS (metal oxide semiconductor) gate driver
• a turn-on rectifier for receiving power from a high voltage isolation transformer;
• a turn-on capacitor coupled in parallel with the turn-on rectifier;
• a turn-on MOSFET (MOS field effect transistor) having a drain coupled to a first side of the turn-on capacitor, a gate coupled to the MOS gate driver, and a source coupled to a gate of the GTO,
• a turn-off rectifier coupled to the turn-on rectifier;
• a turn-off capacitor coupled in parallel to the turn-off rectifier,
• a cathode of the GTO being coupled to a second side of the turn-on capacitor and a first side of the turn-off capacitor;
• a turn-off MCT (MOSFET controlled thyristor) having a gate coupled to the MOS gate driver, an anode coupled to the source of the MOSFET and a cathode coupled to a second side of the turn-off capacitor;
• a square wave chopper for supplying voltage to the high voltage isolation transformer;
• and
• a detection logic unit for modulating current in the high voltage isolation transformer for information transfer to the MOS gate driver.

A GTO (gate turn-off thyrister) gate driver circuit comprising:

• a GTO;
• a MOS gate driver;
• a turn-on rectifier for receiving power from a high voltage isolation transformer;
• a turn-on capacitor coupled in parallel with the turn-on rectifier;
• a turn-on MOSFET having a drain coupled to a first side of the turn-on capacitor, a gate coupled to the MOS gate driver, and a source coupled to a gate of the GTO;
• a cathode of the GTO being coupled to a second side of the turn-on capacitor;
• a turn-off rectifier for receiving power from the high voltage isolation transformer;
• a turn-off capacitor coupled in parallel to the turn-off rectifier;
• and
• a turn-off MCT having a gate coupled to the MOS gate driver, an anode coupled to one side of the turn-off capacitor, and a cathode coupled the cathode of the GTO.