A Universal Photodiode-Based Optical Gate Driver for GaN Power Devices
Abstract
Optically controlled power devices hold promise for achieving minimal triggering delay, simplified control for device stacking, and high electromagnetic interference (EMI) immunity. Although gallium nitride (GaN) devices are rapidly advancing power electronics applications, optically controlled high-voltage switching has rarely been reported in GaN. This work addresses this gap by presenting a universal, optically controlled gate driver based on two photodiodes (PDs) in a totem-pole structure capable of switching GaN power devices with fast speed and low optical power. The two reverse-biased PDs are controlled by complementary optical signals to provide gate current, emulating a current-source gate driver. The proposed driver is demonstrated on both voltage- and current-driven GaN transistors, including a 650 V GaN high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) and a 1200 V vertical GaN junction-gate field-effect …
