DC/DC converters designed for gate drive power

19th January 2022

James Anstee

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The RA3 range of DC/DC converters is available from RECOM, designed to power IGBT, Si, SiC and GaN gate drivers.

RECOM has added to its range of low-cost, unregulated DC/DC converters with the RA3 series of 3W SMD parts which are designed to provide the optimum voltages for semiconductor switch gate drivers. Variants are available with outputs of single 8V, 9V, or dual +7/-1V, +15/-3V, and +20/-5V. These values cover the requirements of IGBTs, silicon MOSFETs and the latest silicon carbide MOSFETs and GaN HEMT cells. The parts have 5.2kV/ 1 minute functional isolation and hold UL/IEC/EN 62368-1, CAN/CSA-C22.2 No 62368-1 certification, along with EN 61204-3 compliance. EMI EN 55032 class ‘A’ level is met without extra filtering and class ‘B’ requires just a simple LC filter. The 3W available suits not only large IGBTs but also other Si, SiC, and GaN devices when switched at high frequency.

Input voltages available are +5V, +12V, and +24V with +/-10% tolerance, and efficiency is typically better than 80%. Isolation capacitance is less than 10pF for high immunity to the fast, high voltage switching edges seen in high-side drivers, particularly with the wide band-gap technologies of SiC and GaN. Operating temperature range is -40°C to +85°C without derating (80°C for 1V, 8V, and 9V output parts).

The RA3 series is surface-mount with ‘land grid’ style terminations and has dimensions of just 23.4mm x 15mm x 8.5mm, giving 35% reduction in footprint and 60% reduction in volume compared with competitor parts. The surface mount format with wide spacings enables the necessary high isolation to be achieved on a customer’s PCB between the DC/DC output pins and other circuitry, with connection to just the top layer.

The enclosed format and wide temperature range of the RA3 series suits harsh environments such as seen in renewable energy, solar inverters, induction heating, telecom, EV battery chargers, and motor drives.

RECOM product manager Matthew Dauterive comments “We have worked closely with leading manufacturers of wide band-gap devices to ensure that these DC/DCs provide the optimum performance for the latest generations of their products. They are also significantly smaller and require fewer external components than other solutions on the market, making them easier to design in”.

Samples and OEM pricing are available from all authorized distributors or directly from RECOM.