High-Voltage Isolated Gate Drive Circuit for 10 kV, 100 A SiC MOSFET/JBS Power Modules

A high-current, high-voltage-isolated gate drive circuit developed for characterization of high-voltage, high- frequency 10 kV, 100 A SiC MOSFET/JBS half-bridge power modules is presented and described. Gate driver characterization and simulation demonstrate that the circuit satisfies the gate drive requirements for the SiC power modules in applications such as the DARPA WBST-HPE solid state power substation (SSPS). These requirements include 30 kV voltage-isolation for the high-side MOSFETs, very low capacitance between the ground and floating driver sides, and 20 kHz operation. Block diagram and detailed discussion of principles of operation of the gate drive circuit are given, together with measured and simulated waveforms of performance evaluation.