Development of 600V Driver IC for Large-Current IGBT Using New Short-Circuit Protection

Abstract

This paper deals with the development of a 600V high-voltage half-bridge gate driver IC used to drive large-current IGBT (insulated gate bipolar transistor) inverters such as those used in HEVs (hybrid electric vehicles). In order to improve the robustness of a short-circuit operation, a new short-circuit protection circuit is proposed. Furthermore, a reduction in the short-circuit current is observed. Thus, the developed high-voltage IC can drive almost all types of IGBT modules up to 400A/600V.