A Novel Continuously Variable Gate Voltage Control Concept for Silicon Carbide Power Modules

This letter presents a novel gate driver concept that utilizes high-frequency (HF), up to 60 MHz, modulated signals to enable continuous variation of gate voltage to achieve highly flexible driving profiles and optimize the performance of silicon carbide (SiC) power modules. This continuously variable gate driver (CVGD) concept is unique from existing solutions in relying on the HF driving signal and the intrinsic parasitics of the module, rather than relying on additional hardware circuitry and dc–dc converters. The proposed CVGD concept can precisely control all regions over a switching cycle while using a topology and part count similar to those of a conventional gate driver. The CVGD is prototyped and validated using the latest 3.3 kV SiC power modules for three potential use cases, including slew rate control, software-based gate resistance variation, and current balancing for paralleled modules.