Page 56 - PEN eBook July 2023
P. 56
Semiconductors
Figure 8: Critical performance parameter comparison of SiC diodes
For high-voltage converters, the combination of SiC MOSFETs and SiC SBDs can be used to reduce
total component count and improve overall efficiency. As shown in the schematic below, the
number of front-end switches is cut in half, as is the number of secondary diodes.
Figure 9: Using SiC devices reduces overall component count and power loss
INCORPORATING GATE DRIVERS INTO AUTOMOTIVE DESIGNS
When designing switching converters for EV charging stations, great care must be applied to the
design of the driver circuits. To aid in this effort and minimize design complexity, Rohm provides
a wide array of fully insulated and half-insulated driver ICs specifically designed for SiC MOSFETs
and other high-power switching devices. A fully insulated example, the BM6105AFW-LB, is shown in
Figure 10. This driver uses inductive coupling to completely isolate the low-voltage control signals
from the high-voltage gate signals. This is especially useful for the high-side switches that are
typically designed with floating-voltage domains.
56 JULY 2023 | www.powerelectronicsnews.com
