Gate drive for high-speed high-power I.G.B.T.s

Summary form only given. A new gate drive for a high-voltage high-power IGBT has been developed for the SLAC NLC Solid State Induction Modulator. This paper describes the design and implementation of a driver that allows an IGBT rated at 800 A/3300 V to switch 3000 A at 2200 V in 3 /spl mu/S with a rate of current rise of more than 10000 A//spl mu/S, while still being short circuit protected. Issues regarding fast turn on, high de-saturation voltage detection, and low short circuit peak current will be presented. A novel approach is also used to counter the effect of unequal current sharing between parallel chips inside most high-power IGBT modules. It effectively reduces the collector-emitter peak current, and thus protects the IGBT from being destroyed during soft short circuit conditions at high di/dt.