Sub-0.5 ns Step, 10-bit Time Domain Digital Gate Driver IC for Reducing Radiated EMI and Switching Loss of SiC MOSFETs

A sub-0.5 ns step, 10-bit time domain digital gate driver (TD DGD) IC is proposed for SiC MOSFETs to reduce both the radiated EMI and the switching loss (ELOSS). Unlike the conventional current-domain DGDs, the proposed TD DGD has the advantage that the gate current is binary and only one period is digitally changed, making it easy to search for the optimal gate waveform that reduces both EMI and ELOSS. Using TD DGD IC fabricated with 180-nm BCD process, the radiated EMI spectrums from 30 MHz to 100 MHz and ELOSS are measured in the double pulse test of a full SiC module at 600 V and 300 A. The proposed active gate drive using TD DGD IC reduces ELOSS by 50 % and 39 % compared with the conventional single-step gate drive while satisfying an EMI limit in turn-on and turn-off, respectively.