• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: Active Gate Driver and Management of the Switching Speed of GaN Transistors during Turn-On and Turn-Off
  • Contributor: Beye, Mamadou Lamine; Wickramasinghe, Thilini; Mogniotte, Jean François; Phung, Luong Viêt; Idir, Nadir; Maher, Hassan; Allard, Bruno
  • imprint: MDPI AG, 2021
  • Published in: Electronics
  • Language: English
  • DOI: 10.3390/electronics10020106
  • ISSN: 2079-9292
  • Keywords: Electrical and Electronic Engineering ; Computer Networks and Communications ; Hardware and Architecture ; Signal Processing ; Control and Systems Engineering
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: <jats:p>The paper investigates the management of drain voltage and current slew rates (i.e., dv/dt and di/dt) of high-speed GaN-based power switches during the transitions. An active gate voltage control (AGVC) is considered for improving the safe operation of a switching cell. In an application of open-loop AGVC, the switching speeds vary significantly with the operating point of the GaN HEMT on either or both current and temperature. A closed-loop AGVC is proposed to operate the switches at a constant speed over different operating points. In order to evaluate the reduction in the electromagnetic disturbances, the common mode currents in the system were compared using the active and a standard gate voltage control (SGVC). The closed-loop analysis carried out in this paper has shown that discrete component-based design can introduce limitations to fully resolve the problem of high switching speeds. To ensure effective control of the switching operations, a response time fewer than 10 ns is required for this uncomplex closed-loop technique despite an increase in switching losses.</jats:p>
  • Access State: Open Access