High-speed gate driver design for testing and characterizing WBG power transistors

Requirements and design considerations for driving wide-bandgap (WBG) power semiconductors such as gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) devices are discussed in this paper. The main purpose is the development of a reliable gate drive circuit for these WBG devices which must be capable to operate at high switching frequencies. Conventional and resonant gate drivers are designed providing a solution for high voltage applications up to 1000V. Based on exemplary measurements of SiC devices, the performance of the gate drivers is compared with regard to power consumption and high speed switching.