Gate driver delivers 30% improved power efficiency

It simplifies design and maximises battery life of brushless direct current (DC) motor drives. The gate driver integrates all three bottom shunt amplifiers to provide a complete motor drive solution with 30 % improved power efficiency, while simplifying design by reducing component count by half when compared to similar solutions. The device is optimised for performance over a wide voltage range, making it well-suited for servo motors, brushless motors and permanent magnet synchronous motors.

The three-phase gate driver is equipped with pins to add a charge pump, statically stabilising the gate voltages of external MOSFETs in three-phase motors with up to 100A of coil current.

Offered in a 36-pin quad-flat no-leads (QFN) package, the gate driver is a flexible solution offering 0.5A or 1.0A gate driver current for 5V to 30V DC battery-powered applications, such as power tools where voltages can drop below 10V.

Integrated current sense and diagnostics features add functional safety while simplifying design.

With a simple design and smallest size, the TMC6140-LA integrates three bottom shunt amplifiers for current sense and diagnostics, as well as a switching regulator, simplifying design and reducing component count by 50 % compared to similar solutions.

It has a longer battery life. For applications at 15V or lower, the switching regulator output can be used to stabilise the power supply, which maintains the output signals to ensure consistent operation over an extended battery life.

Integrated shunt amplifiers provide current sensing for status information.

An analogue programmable short detection and diagnostic output reports status back to the host.

“The integrated current sense and diagnostics features are key for enabling functional safety without adding complicated circuitry or additional components to any system’s design,” said Michael Randt, founder of Trinamic Motion Control. “This allows engineers to increase efficiency by 30 % with minimal effort.” The TMC6140-LA is available for $2.68 (1000-up, FOB USA) from Trinamic authorised distributors.

The TMC6140-EVAL evaluation board and TMC6140-EVAL-KIT evaluation kit with both bridge and driver evaluation boards are also offered for $66 and $130, respectively.