Gate drive for high speed, high power IGBTs

A new gate drive for high-voltage, high-power IGBT has been developed for the SLAC NLC (Next Linear Collider) Solid State Induction Modulator. This paper describes the design and implementation of a driver that allows an IGBT module rated at 800 A/3300 V to switch up to 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 are 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 currents and thus protects the IGBT from being destroyed during soft short circuit conditions at high di/dt.