As demand for electric buses and other electrified heavy-duty transportation vehicles increases to meet lower carbon emission targets, power management solutions based on silicon carbide are delivering higher efficiency for such transportation systems. To further expand its broad portfolio of silicon carbide MOSFET discretes and modules, Microchip has introduced a new “production-ready” 1200V digital gate driver that provides system developers with multiple levels of control and protection to enable safe, reliable transportation and meet stringent industry requirements.

Microchip Launches First Digital Gate Driver for Silicon Carbide MOSFETs, Reducing Switching Losses by 50%

For designers of silicon carbide power conversion devices, Microchip’s AgileSwitchR2ASC-12A2HP 1200V dual-channel digital gate driver with Augmented Switching technology is production-certified and fully configurable. To ensure reliable and safe operation, the 2ASC-12A2HP gate driver provides multiple levels of control and higher levels of protection for silicon carbide MOSFET power systems. Key features of the AgileSwitch gate driver products include the ability to suppress drain-source voltage (Vds) overvoltage pulses by up to 80%, which can reduce switching losses by up to 50% compared to traditional gate drivers. The 2ASC-12A2HP digital gate driver can source/sink up to 10A peak current, has an isolated DC/DC converter built in, and has a low capacitance isolation barrier for pulse width modulation signals and fault feedback.

Microchip's 2ASC-12A2HP gate driver is compatible with the latest version of the Intelligent Configuration Tool (ICT). The interface allows users to configure gate driver parameters, including gate switching profiles, system key monitors and controller interface settings. This is equivalent to tailoring the gate driver to the user's application without changing hardware, helping to speed up development time from evaluation to production and enabling designers to change control parameters during the design process. ICT is available as a free download, which can save designers approximately 3 to 6 months of development time for new designs.
“The societal trend toward electrification of all vehicles, including buses, trains, trams and agricultural transport, depends on innovative power electronics solutions to achieve higher productivity with less energy,” said Leon Gross, vice president of Microchip’s Discrete Products Business Unit. “When combined with Microchip’s silicon carbide power components, the newly introduced gate driver technology enables engineers to achieve new levels of power density in transportation systems and industrial applications.”

In addition to commercial vehicles, other applications include charging infrastructure, energy storage systems, solar converters and flight actuators.

Microchip’s 2ASC-12A2HP gate driver is compatible with its broad portfolio of silicon carbide power components and modules, and can work in conjunction with silicon carbide products from other manufacturers. Microchip combines silicon carbide power modules and digital gate drivers to enable designers to influence dynamic issues including voltage overshoot, switching losses and electromagnetic interference. While providing the instantaneous collapse and short-circuit robustness of silicon carbide MOSFETs, Microchip also provides a total system solution that greatly simplifies the development process from design to production.

Microchip's silicon carbide portfolio further expands its rich microcontroller (MCU) and analog solutions to further provide total system solutions for high-power applications.