Communication Functions for a Gate Driver Under High Voltage and High dv/dt

Christophe Bouguet (1, 2) , Nicolas Ginot (2) , Christophe Batard (2)

1 ECA Group
2 IETR - Institut d'Électronique et des Technologies du numéRique

The control of MOSFET or IGBT transistors is carried out by a dedicated circuit called « driver » which is located as closeas possible to the power module. It transmits switch-on and switch-off orders coming from the control unit and ensures the integrity ofthe component through safety functions. It also provides a galvanic insulation essential to ensure the effective functioning of the systemand the users’ safety. Switching times of SiC MOSFET are faster than Si IGBT and SiC MOSFET can also work under a stronger DCvoltage. This involves the presence of higher dv/dt in the converter. In this paper, a communication function is studied with the aim ofbeing integrated into the new generations of drivers for SiC MOSFET. The interest of the implementation of a communication systemin a driver is presented. Currently available solutions on the market to provide insulation to communication channels are debated. Thetheoretical development of a solution called « CAN-ISO » is detailed and experimental results under high voltage and high dv/dt,respectively equal to 2 kV and 125 kV/μs, are presented.

Mots clés: Controller Area Network (CAN); Communication channel; MOSFET SiC; Electrical Insulation; Power Electronics; Driver

Domaines: Energie électrique; Electronique

Christophe Bouguet, Nicolas Ginot, Christophe Batard. Communication Functions for a Gate Driver Under High Voltage and High dv/dt. IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, 2018, 33 (7), pp.6137-6146. ⟨10.1109/TPEL.2017.2750744⟩. ⟨hal-01580978⟩