Silicon carbide (SiC) is a wide bandgap semiconductor that offers many advantages over traditional silicon MOSFETs, such as higher breakdown voltage, lower on-resistance, and faster switching speed. However, the switching speed of SiC MOSFETs is often limited by the conventional voltage source gate driver (VSG) due to the SiC high Miller voltage level, internal gate resistance, and limited gate voltage rating of SiC. The current source gate driver (CSG) can overcome some of these limitations of the VSG by providing a higher gate current drive and gate voltage during the Miller plateau voltage region. This allows for faster switching speeds and lower switching losses. In addition, the CSG can be dynamically programmed to provide the optimal gate current drive for any operating condition, such as temperature, DC rail voltage, and IDS current level. This helps minimize IDS current and VDS voltage spikes, which can damage the SiC MOSFET. This presentation will analyze and compare the performances of the VSG and CSG gate drivers during the switching transition. It will also present a measurement method to fairly compare the VSG and CSG switching loss.
