With the rapid development of technology, the size of power converter is getting smaller, and the conversion efficiency is getting higher. Various power converter solutions are also introduced in the market to meet different requirements of applications.
Gate drivers with their own characteristics
Gate driver is a kind of power amplifier, that can drive the gate of power transistor (such as IGBT or power MOSFET) by controlling the low power signal generated by the integrated circuit. The gate driver may be attached to the power transistor, or it may be a discrete component. The gate driver will include a level shifter and an amplifier circuit.
The gate driver IC serves as an interface between control signals (digital or analog controllers) and power switches (IGBT, MOSFET, SiC MOSFET, and GaN HEMT). Integrated gate driver solutions reduce design complexity, development time, bill of materials (BOM), and board space, while improving the reliability of discrete gate driver solutions. The environmental conditions of industry applications are quite challenging, and the immunity of power supply must be improved to ensure the reliability and safety required for gate drive applications, in which a DC-DC converter plays an important role.
Different materials and architectures have different characteristics
IGBT driver is a device that drives IGBT and controls its overall performance. It not only affects the dynamic performance of IGBT, but also related to the cost and reliability of the system. The choice of driver and the calculation of output power determine the reliability of the commutation system. Insufficient drive power or wrong selection may directly cause IGBT and drive damage.
MOSFET drivers are high frequency and high voltage gate drivers, which can drive two N-channel MOSFETs with a synchronous DC-DC converter and a power supply voltage up to 100V. Strong driving capability reduces switching loss in MOSFET with high gate capacitance.
In the development and application of SiC MOSFET, compared with Si MOSFET with the same power level, the on-resistance and switching loss of SiC MOSFET are greatly reduced, which is suitable for higher operating frequency. In addition, due to its high temperature operating characteristics of SiC MOSFET, the high temperature stability is greatly improved.
High electron mobility transistor (HEMT) is a kind of field-effect transistor. It uses two kinds of materials with different energy gaps to form heterojunction to provide channels for carriers. Gallium arsenide (GaAs) and gallium arsenide aluminum (AlGaAs) ternary compound semiconductors are optional materials to form this module. In recent years, gallium nitride (GaN) HEMT, which has developed rapidly, has attracted a lot of attention because of its good high frequency characteristics. HEMT can operate at a very high frequency, so it is widely used in mobile phones, satellite TV and radar.
DC-DC converters are widely used
DC-DC converter, also known as DC-DC converter or DC transformer, is an electric energy conversion circuit or electromechanical device, which can convert DC power supply into DC (or approximate DC) power supply with different voltages. Its power range can range from very small (small battery) to very large (high voltage power conversion). Some DC-DC converters have the same reference point for the output and input voltage, while others have separate output and input voltages.
DC-DC converters can be divided into three categories, including boost, buck, and boost-buck DC-DC converters. Three types of control converter can be adopted according to requirements. PWM control has high efficiency and good output voltage ripple and noise. Even if the PFM control type is used for a long time, it has the advantage of low power consumption when the load is small. PWM/PFM conversion type implements PFM control under small load and automatically switches to PWM control under heavy load. DC-DC converters are widely used in industry and consumer products.
Complete product line can meet various needs
Murata has introduced a series of gate driver DC-DC converters specially designed for gate drive circuits, which are commonly used in new energy, motion control, mobility and healthcare solutions. These products have ultra-low isolation capacitance of 3pF, optimized IGBT/SiC and MOS gate drives bipolar output voltages, dc link voltage up to 3kV, reliability against partial discharge, and dv/dt immunity up to 80kV/µS at 1.6kV.
Murata has introduced the MGJ series DC-DC converters in consideration of industry application requirements. They are specially designed and tested to withstand high dv/dt and DC link conditions without measurable breakdown in the isolation barrier. Common application fields of Murata's DC-DC converter include motor drive/motion control, solar inverter, welding, medical pump controller, medical X-ray system, HVAC inverter system, high power AC-DC conversion, electrical powered transportation system, pump and valve control, etc.
Most of Murata's DC-DC power supplies have been investigated by Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL), and all products that meet the above standards have UL certification marks printed on the first page of their data sheets. In addition, the data sheet is printed with the applicable operation level of the product. At the same time, Murata strives to comply with all applicable local and international specifications, product directives and reporting requirements, including EU RoHS directives and other country-specific RoHS specifications.
Facing different product requirements, Murata has launched a variety of gate drive DC-DC converters, and the items are quite diverse. Murata also provides convenient query function on the website to quickly find the corresponding products according to the application types and specification requirements. For detailed specifications of Murata's product lines, please visit https://www.murata.com/en-sg/products/power/isolated-gate-drive-power.
Conclusion
With the booming sales of various mobile devices, the demand for DC-DC converters in the market is increasing day by day. Murata has launched various DC-DC converters with various specifications, which can speed up the product development of customers. If you require power converters, please surf on Murata's website first. I believe you will find a suitable solution quickly.