High-Performance Isolated Gate-Driver Power Supply With Integrated Planar Transformer

Wide-bandgap and silicon power semiconductor devices require advanced pulsewidth gate-driver capability to successfully convert power for high-performance operation. In this article, a simplified forward isolated resonant converter structure with an integrated planar transformer is proposed, a cost-effective solution which eliminates the need of an output filter inductor while rearranging the clamp circuit for reduced component ratings and voltage stress. The first design option uses a simple back-to-back Zener diode voltage clamp circuit for low-power dc–dc isolated power supply applications. The second design employs a lossless voltage-clamped converter with auxiliary energy-recovering winding with an application example for an isolated gate-driver power supply. Through analysis of the converter, the switching frequency has been selected in relationship to the transformer inductance and the equivalent circuit capacitance for the benefit of soft-switching power device transitions. The proposed resonant converter structure features an integrated planar transformer designed with a specific layer disposition to ensure low interwinding capacitance. The converter offers isolated supplies for a gate-driver power devices pair, such as half-bridge SiC devices. The simulation and experimental results are obtained from a gate-driver application platform to demonstrate the validity of the proposed isolated dc–dc converter design and integrated planar transformer with a total conversion efficiency of 87.7%.