A UNIVERSAL SOI-BASED HIGH TEMPERATURE GATE DRIVER INTEGRATED CIRCUIT FOR SiC POWER SWITCHES WITH ON-CHIP SHORT CIRCUIT PROTECTION

摘要

In recent years, increasing demand for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) has generated the need fornreliable and low-cost high-temperature electronics which can operate at the high temperatures undernthe hood of these vehicles. A high-voltage and high temperature gate-driver integrated circuit fornSiC FET switches with short circuit protection has been designed and implemented in a 0.8-micronnsilicon-on-insulator (SOI) high-voltage process. The prototype chip has been successfully tested upnto 200ºC ambient temperature without any heat sink or cooling mechanism. This gate-driver chip canndrive SiC power FETs of the DC-DC converters in a HEV, and future chip modifications will allownit to drive the SiC power FETs of the traction drive inverter. The converter modules along with thengate-driver chip will be placed very close to the engine where the temperature can reach up to 175ºC.nSuccessful operation of the chip at this temperature with or without minimal heat sink and withoutnliquid cooling will help achieve greater power-to-volume as well as power-to-weight ratios for thenpower electronics module.