STMicroelectronics' advanced galvanically isolated gate driver STGAP3S provides flexible protection for IGBTs and SiC MOSFETs

Power control for industrial motor drives such as air conditioners, home appliances, and factory automation, and energy applications such as charging stations, energy storage systems, and power supplies

China, November 13, 2024 - STMicroelectronics' STGAP3S series of silicon carbide (SiC) and IGBT power switch gate drivers integrate ST's latest robust galvanic isolation technology, optimized desaturation protection function and flexible Miller clamp architecture.

STGAP3S uses enhanced capacitive isolation between the gate drive channel and the low-voltage control and interface circuits, with a transient isolation voltage (VIOTM) of 9.6kV and a common-mode transient immunity (CMTI) of 200V/ns. By adopting this advanced electrical isolation technology, STGAP3S improves the reliability of industrial motor drives such as air conditioners, factory automation, and home appliances. The new driver is also suitable for power and energy applications, including charging stations, energy storage systems, power factor correction (PFC), DC-DC converters, and solar inverters.

The STGAP3S product family offers developers a choice of different product models, including 10A and 6A drive current products, both with different undervoltage lockout (UVLO) and desaturation intervention thresholds, helping designers select the driver that best matches the performance of their selected SiC MOSFET or IGBT power switch tube.

The desaturation protection function implements overload and short-circuit protection for the external power switch tube. The shutdown strategy of the power switch tube can be adjusted using an external resistor, and the shutdown speed can be adjusted to maximize the protection function while avoiding excessive overvoltage spikes. Undervoltage lockout protection prevents conduction when the driving voltage is insufficient.

The driver's integrated Miller clamp architecture provides a pre-driver for the external N-channel MOSFET. Therefore, designers have the flexibility to choose the appropriate intervention speed to prevent induced turn-on and avoid cross conduction.

The current product models include drivers with 10A source/sink and 6A source/sink currents, desaturation detection and UVLO thresholds optimized for IGBT or SiC, allowing developers to maximize the performance of their selected power switches. Fault conditions of desaturation, UVLO and overtemperature protection are notified to the controller through two dedicated open-drain diagnostic pins.

The STGAP3SXS is in production now and is available in the SO-16W wide-body package.