Bipolar gate-driver transistors outperform monolithic driver ICs

To enable faster switching and higher efficiency in power supplies and motor drives, new bipolar gate-driver transistors from Zetex Semiconductors are capable of sinking currents up to 9A for rapid charging and discharging of power-MOSFET or IGBT gate capacitances.

The ZXGD3000 series non-inverting gate drivers use a fast-switching emitter-follower configuration to achieve propagation delays of less than 2ns and rise/fall times in the order of 10ns, giving improved control over MOSFET switching performance. This configuration also contributes to eliminating latch-up and shoot-through, leading to improved circuit reliability and EMI performance. By providing independent source and sink output pins, the drivers also give designers the flexibility to control gate rise and fall times separately.

Benefitting from high current gain and low input-current draw, designers can interface ZXGD3000 transistors directly with low-power controller ICs, and thereby eliminate additional buffer circuitry. Four devices are available, covering supply voltages from 12V to 40V.

 

FEATURES Flow-through pinning Optimised for efficient PCB layout 6-lead SOT23 package Near-zero quiescent current and output-leakage current

APPLICATIONS Synchronous switch-mode power supplies Secondary-side synchronous rectification Plasma Display Panel (PDP) power modules Motor-control circuits Audio switching Audio amplifiers

 

 

 

• Vishay’s IGBTs, page 080709

 

Zetex Semiconductors / ZXGD3000