Gate driver with high common mode rejection and self turn-on mitigation for a 10 kV SiC MOSFET enabled MV converter

This paper investigates gate driver design challenges encountered due to the fast switching transients in medium voltage half bridge silicon carbide MOSFET power modules. The paper presents, design of a reduced isolation capacitance regulated DC-DC power supply and a gate driver with an active Miller clamp circuit for a 10 kV half bridge SiC MOSFET power module. Designed power supply and the gate driver circuit are verified in a double pulse test setup and a continuous switching operation using the 10 kV half bridge silicon carbide MOSFET power module. An in-depth experimental verification and detailed test results are presented to validate the gate driver functionality. The designed gate driver circuit shows satisfactory performance with increased common mode noise immunity and protection against the Miller current induced unwanted turn on.