A di/dt Feedback-Based Active Gate Driver for Smart Switching and Fast Overcurrent Protection of IGBT Modules

• Published in: IEEE transactions on power electronics Vol. 29; no. 7; pp. 3720 - 3732
• Main Authors: Zhiqiang Wang, Xiaojie Shi, Tolbert, Leon M., Fei Wang, Blalock, Benjamin J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.07.2014; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Active gate driver (AGD); Analysis; Applied sciences; Capacitance; Circuit properties; Circuits; Control systems; Control theory; Convertors; Electric currents; Electric, optical and optoelectronic circuits; Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering; Electrical machines; Electronic circuits; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Experiments; Faults; Feedback; Gates; IGBT modules; Inductance; Insulated gate bipolar transistors; Logic gates; Miller plateau; Modules; Other multijunction devices. Power transistors. Thyristors; Overcurrent; overcurrent protection; Regulation and control; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Semiconductors; short circuit; Signal convertors; Switches; Switching; Switching loss; Transient analysis; Gate current; Performance evaluation; Electric stress; Feedback regulation; Driver; Push pull connection; Feedback; Switching time; Miller plateau; Delay time; Intelligent system; IGBT modules; Controlled current source; Active gate driver (AGD); Insulated gate bipolar transistor; Power electronics; Buffer system; Fault currents; Current control; short circuit; Switching transients; Switching loss; Switching overcurrent; Comparative study; On off effect; Overcurrent protection
• ISSN: 0885-8993; 1941-0107
• DOI: 10.1109/TPEL.2013.2278794

This paper presents an active gate driver (AGD) for IGBT modules to improve their overall performance under normal condition as well as fault condition. Specifically, during normal switching transients, a di/dt feedback controlled current source and current sink is introduced together with a push-pull buffer for dynamic gate current control. Compared to a conventional gate drive strategy, the proposed one has the capability of reducing the switching loss, delay time, and Miller plateau duration during turn-on and turn-off transient without sacrificing current and voltage stress. Under overcurrent condition, it provides a fast protection function for IGBT modules based on the evaluation of fault current level through the di/dt feedback signal. Moreover, the AGD features flexible protection modes, which overcomes the interruption of converter operation in the event of momentary short circuits. A step-down converter is built to evaluate the performance of the proposed driving schemes under various conditions, considering variation of turn-on/off gate resistance, current levels, and short-circuit fault types. Experimental results and detailed analysis are presented to verify the feasibility of the proposed approach.