A Gate Driver Circuit with Variable Gate to Source/Emitter Voltage Applicable on Si-MOSFETs, SiC MOSFETs and IGBTs

An isolated gate driver is a prime requirement to operate an IGBTMOSFET or newer electronic devices like SiC MOSFET. Various gate drivers are required in a circuit when the gate to source(emitter) voltage $V_{GS}(V_{GB})$, which is required to provide an initial charge to the switch, is different. The present investigation proposes a novel gate driver circuit based on UCC21750 gate driver IC, which can drive the devices of different technologies. Devices that operate on various gate to source(emitter) voltage $V_{GS}(V_{GE})$ can also be triggered with the proposed gate driver circuit because it provides a gate to source(emitter) voltage of 18V, 15V, 12V, 8V, and 5V by switching a 4-way DIP switch. The circuit comprises an onboard power supply sub-circuit for the gate driver IC, reducing the number of external power supplies. The hardware realization of the gate driver circuit is accomplished and validated on different devices such as si-MOSFET, SiC MOSFET, superFET MOSFET, and IGBT.