The active self-controlled free-wheeling management principle applied to reverse recovery losses reduction

Several works suggest the imminent appearance of bidirectional active devices. The promised performances go in the direction of a reverse recovery effects reduction and efficiency improvement. Our purpose is the study of an active management for switches that cannot be spontaneous in commutation as a diode. Based on zero-crossing detection and protection circuits, new mechanisms are introduced. As an application, a free-wheeling path is performed using a bidirectional active switch. The principles are verified in two basic converters. For experimental results, a bidirectional switch is implemented using a combination of MOSFETs in direct and reverse conduction.