MOSFET gate drivers improve conversion efficiency

2nd December 2014

Nat Bowers

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Designed to control the high-current power MOSFETs used in on-board and embedded power supplies and motor drive circuits, a pair of compact 40V, 1A-rated gate drivers have been introduced by Diodes Incorporated. The ZXGD3009E6 and ZXGD3009DY help MOSFETs to be more rapidly and fully switched on and off, minimise switching losses, improve power density and increase overall conversion efficiency.

Providing a typical drive current of 500mA from an input current of only 10mA, the devices ensure desirable fast charging and discharging of the power MOSFET’s capacitive load, acting as a high-gain buffer stage for low-power control ICs. With an ultra-fast switching capability, the ZXGD3009E6 and ZXGD3009DY provide a propagation delay time of less than 5ns, and rise and fall times of less than 20ns.

Independent control of MOSFET turn-on and turn-off times is enabled via the separate source and sink outputs, allowing MOSFET behaviour to be more closely tailored to individual applications. A rugged emitter-follower design negates latch-up or shoot-through issues, as well as accepting peak currents of up to 2A. A 40V operating range handles voltage spikes far beyond the typical 12V normally associated with power MOSFET gate driving.

The ZXGD3009s’ ability to drive the gate negatively as well as positively assures dependable hard turn-off of the power MOSFET.

The SOT26 packaged ZXGD3009E6 is priced at $0.12 each, and the SOT363 packaged ZXGD3009DY at $0.10 each, in 1,000 unit quantities.