Active control of series connected, voltage driven power devices using a single gate drive

A novel approach for controlling series strings of voltage driven devices (e.g. JFET, MOSFET, IGBT) is presented that allows high voltage switches to be constructed from lower voltage devices. The approach allows controlled voltage sharing under steady-state and transient conditions and is achieved using a simple passive gate-side control circuit of resistors, capacitors, diodes and Zener diodes. Once implemented, the control circuit requires only a single, standard gate-drive for operation. Furthermore, the dynamic voltage sharing and dV/dt during switching is determined by the choice of circuit parameters and not the device characteristics. The approach is validated both with simulation and experimental results.