Comprehensive evaluation of GaN GIT in low- and high-frequency bridge leg applications

In power electronics applications with power ratings around several kilowatts, wide band gap semiconductors are more and more replacing state-of-the-art Si MOSFET. SiC MOSFETs with blocking voltage rating up to 1200V and low-voltage GaN devices are already commercially available on the market since a couple of years. Now also 600V GaN devices are entering the market, which are a cost-effective solution in many 400V key applications in order to increase the system performance in terms of achievable efficiencies or power density. Besides the employed semiconductor devices also the design of the appropriate gate drive circuit is important. In this paper a simple and reliable gate drive circuit for driving GaN switches is presented. In addition, the proposed gate drive is used to evaluate the switching performance of a GaN Gate Injection Transistor (GIT) under soft- and hard-switching condition, which provides a basis for further optimization of totem-pole converter systems.