Evaluation of Voltage-Controlled Active Gate-Drivers for SiC MOSFET Power Semiconductors
| dc.contributor.author | Mourges, Paul Michael | en |
| dc.contributor.committeechair | Burgos, Rolando | en |
| dc.contributor.committeechair | Dong, Dong | en |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Ngo, Khai D. | en |
| dc.contributor.department | Electrical Engineering | en |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-09-27T08:00:08Z | en |
| dc.date.available | 2022-09-27T08:00:08Z | en |
| dc.date.issued | 2022-09-26 | en |
| dc.description.abstract | With the development and use of Silicon-Carbide [Silicon-Carbide (SiC)] devices come a host of advantages, including higher switching frequency, improved thermal performance, and higher voltage rating. This higher switching frequency can reduce the size of the con- verter system, but is typically associated with higher dv/dt voltage slew rates that further increase electromagnetic interference (EMI) related phenomena. Conventional gate-drivers are very limited in the way that they can control this high dv/dt, and this leads to the use of active gate-drivers. This thesis will explore the use of an active voltage-controlled gate-driver for SiC devices, utilizing transiently a voltage closer to the Miller plateau than the nominal turn-on and turn-off voltage to introduce control over the switching transient. Various ap- plied voltages, and voltage sequences will be evaluated to determine their effectiveness for controlling dv/dt and their impact on switching loss. Through this work, a better under- standing of the advantages and drawbacks of an active gate-driver can be found. The main result from this work is the effective reduction in the dv/dt generated by MOSFET devices, which was attained at a lower switching loss penalty compared to conventional resistive gate-drivers operating at similar dv/dt rates. Simulation and experimental results obtained with a prototype active gate-driver circuitry were used for this evaluation. | en |
| dc.description.abstractgeneral | Within power electronic systems such as an inverter used to connect solar panels to the grid, are electrically controlled switches. These switches traditionally have been made of Silicon (Si) which imposed limitations on how fast they could transition from off to on, and vice versa, they also could only switch a relatively small number of times per second. However, a new generation of devices made from a silicon carbide material are being increasingly adopted, some key advantages of these new devices include much higher number of times to switch per second, and faster transitions from off-on and on-off. The trade-off that comes with this faster operation is an increase in the electromagnetic noise generated by these switches, among other issues. This work looks to explore a more unique method of controlling the turn-on and turn-off of these new switches and evaluating its impact on the noise generated and the losses during switching. | en |
| dc.description.degree | Master of Science | en |
| dc.format.medium | ETD | en |
| dc.identifier.other | vt_gsexam:35418 | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10919/112005 | en |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.publisher | Virginia Tech | en |
| dc.rights | In Copyright | en |
| dc.rights.uri | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ | en |
| dc.subject | SiC | en |
| dc.subject | Active Gate-Driver | en |
| dc.subject | Loss | en |
| dc.subject | dv/dt | en |
| dc.subject | EMI | en |
| dc.title | Evaluation of Voltage-Controlled Active Gate-Drivers for SiC MOSFET Power Semiconductors | en |
| dc.type | Thesis | en |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Electrical Engineering | en |
| thesis.degree.grantor | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | en |
| thesis.degree.level | masters | en |
| thesis.degree.name | Master of Science | en |
Files
Original bundle
1 - 1 of 1