High Performance, 650 V Half Bridge Gate Driver for GaN Power Switches

The NCP51820 high-speed gate driver is designed to meet the stringent requirements of driving enhancement mode (e−mode) and gate injection transistor (GIT) GaN HEMT power switches in offline, half-bridge ZVS power topologies. The NCP51820 offers short and matched propagation delays as well as a −3.5 V to +650 V (typical) common-mode voltage range for the high−side drive. To fully protect the gate of the GaN power transistor against excessive voltage stress, both drive stages employ a dedicated voltage regulator to accurately maintain the gate-source drive signal amplitude. The NCP51820 offers important protection functions such as independent under−voltage lockout (UVLO) and IC thermal shutdown.