The trend in power electronic applications is to reach higher power density and higher efficiency. Currently, the wide band-gap devices such as silicon carbide MOSFET (SiC MOSFET) are of great interest because they can work at higher switching frequency with low losses. The increase of the switching speed in power devices leads to high power density systems. However, this can generate problems such as overshoots, oscillations, additional losses, and electromagnetic interference (EMI). In this paper, a novel active gate driver (AGD) for improving the SiC MOSFET switching trajectory with high performance is presented. The AGD is an open-loop control system and its principle is based on gate energy decrease with a gate resistance increment during the Miller plateau effect on gate-source voltage. The proposed AGD has been designed and validated through experimental tests for high-frequency operation. Moreover, an EMI discussion and a performance analysis were realized for the AGD. The results show that the AGD can reduce the overshoots, oscillations, and losses without compromising the EMI. In addition, the AGD can control the turn-on and turn-off transitions separately, and it is suitable for working with asymmetrical supplies required by SiC MOSFETs.

A novel active gate driver (AGD) for silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET is studied in this paper. The gate driver (GD) increases the gate resistance value during the voltage plateau area of the gate-source voltage, in both turn-on and turn-off transitions. The proposed AGD is validated in both simulation and experimental environments and in hard-switching conditions. The simulation is evaluated in MATLAB/Simulink with 100 kHz of switching frequency and 600 V of dc-bus, whereas, the experimental part was realised at 100 kHz and 100 V of dc-bus. The results show that the gate driver can reduce the over-voltage and ringing, with low switching losses.

This paper introduces a novel active gate driver (AGD) for switching control of the silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs. The new gate driver improves the current and voltage profiles by suppression of the overshoot problems. The main innovation of the proposed AGD is the modification of gate-source voltage slope in two stages for both turn-on and turn-off transitions with a simple closed-loop control, which directly implies to the control of di/dt and dv/dt. The new gate driver is validated by experimental results. Moreover, an analysis of performance and electromagnetic interference (EMI) is realized. The experimental tests have been developed with 100 kHz of switching frequency and 200 V of dc-bus, in hard-switching conditions. The results show that the proposed AGD can reduce EMI problems with a minimum side effect on the efficiency of the SiC MOSFETs.

This paper presents a comparison of Isolated (Flyback) and non-Isolated (Buck) multiple input-single output (MISO) DC-DC converters. The analysis of DC-DC converters is based on pulsed voltage source cells (PVSC). The modeling of both converter types is detailed through their mathematical models and electrical simulations using Matlab/Simulink and PSIM. The comparison focuses on the sizing parameters, non-ideal output characteristics and efficiency. Results show that the output voltage of the MISO Buck converter exhibits a linear dependence on the duty cycles control signal and has slightly higher efficiency than the Flyback converter. To validate the operation of both converters, a scenario with two inputs (low-power hydroelectric and photovoltaic voltage sources) is considered. The modeling and control of both source systems are detailed and the MISO converter performance response is evaluated under sources changes and efficiency point of view.

Silicon carbide (SiC)-based switching devices provide significant performance improvements in many aspects, including lower power dissipation, higher operating temperatures, and faster switching; compared with conventional Si devices, all these features contribute to these devices generating interest in applications for electric traction systems. The topology that is frequently used in these systems is the voltage source inverter (VSI), but the use of SiC devices in the current source inverter topology (CSI), which is considered as an emerging topology, generates interest. This paper presents a method for improving total harmonic distortion (THD) in the currents of output and efficiency in SiC current source inverter for future application in an electric traction system. The method that is proposed consists of improving the coupling of a bidirectional converter topology, voltage current (V-I) and CSI. The V-I converter serves as a current regulator for the CSI, and allows for the recovery of energy. The method involves an effective selection of the switching frequencies and phase angles for the carrier signals that are present in each converter topology. With this method, it is expected to have a reduction of the total harmonic distortion, THD in the output currents. In addition, a comparative analysis between converters with all-SiC technology and converters with hybrid technology is realized, to verify the impact of the SiC devices in the power converters efficiency.

In this paper, a feedback active gate driver (AGD) based on a multistage technique for improving the switching trajectory of silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET devices is presented. The main purpose of this technique is to reduce the oscillations and overshoot in high-frequency with low switching losses. Besides, the gate driver is designed considering the current load variations with simple circuit structure. An AGD validation has been developed by using simulations. The results have shown the behaviour of the AGD and feasibility. Therefore, the AGD can reduce the oscillations to avoid electromagnetic interference (EMI) and also decrease the overshoots caused by high di/dt current and dv/dt voltage slopes. In addition, the tests showed that the proposed AGD can be developed with low switching losses in high-frequency applications and medium power.