Optimized IGBT Turn-Off Switching Performance Using the Full Device Safe Operating Area

In this work, a multiple stage gate driver based on a switched gate resistor topology for an insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is presented. An optimization procedure to reduce the turn-off switching losses while maintaining equal device stress is presented. The presented driver uses the maximum operating conditions of the IGBT in the entire operating range, while commercial drivers are usually designed for a worst case operating point. It is shown that, compared to a state of the art commercial gate driver, switching loss improvements are achieved when using the full device capability at partial load. An increase in efficiency by reducing switching losses in the partial load range represents a significant improvement for most power electronics converter applications because they are operated most of the time in the partial load range. The paper concludes with an evaluation of the measurement results, showing switching loss improvements of up to 50 % compared to a commercial gate driver in the partial load range.