What you’ll learn:
- Infineon expanded its EiceDRIVER family with new isolated gate-driver ICs designed for electric vehicles.
- The parts support the latest IGBT and SiC technologies, including the HybridPACK Drive G2 Fusion module.
- These are AEC-qualified and ISO 26262-compliant solutions for traction inverters in xEV platforms.
Silicon-carbide (SiC) power technologies, when used in electric-vehicle applications like traction inverters, increase the driving range of hybrid EVs and reduce energy losses during charging.
On this front, Infineon Technologies offers a wide range of automotive-qualified isolated gate-driver ICs covering the usage of MOSFET, IGBT, and SiC technologies in applications up to 1,200 V. The company’s EiceDRIVER isolated gate-driver ICs are said to be well-suited for SiC MOSFETs and necessary to utilize the full performance of SiC power switches.
New EiceDRIVER Gate Drivers are Galvanically Isolated
Infineon recently introduced isolated-gate driver ICs for EVs, expanding its EiceDRIVER family. This family of high-voltage gate drivers includes automotive-qualified IGBT and SiC MOSFET driver ICs, providing galvanic isolation and bidirectional signal transmission with high ambient temperature capability.
Automotive EiceDRIVER parts, which leverage a magnetically coupled coreless-transformer (CT) technology, provide short propagation delays and strong robustness for driving IGBT and SiC power switches. The CT technology delivers bidirectional signal transfer across galvanic isolation. It uses semiconductor manufacturing processes to integrate a transformer consisting of metal spirals and silicon-oxide insulation.
The devices support Infineon's new HybridPACK Drive G2 Fusion module, a “ plug-and-play” power module that implements a combination of Infineon’s silicon and SiC technologies. The pre-configured, third-generation EiceDRIVER products—1EDI302xAS (IGBT) and 1EDI303xAS (SiC/fusion)—are AEC-qualified and ISO 26262-compliant. They’re aimed at traction inverters in cost-effective and high-performance xEV platforms.
The 1EDI3026AS and 1EDI3035AS provide an output stage of 20 A and drive inverters of all power classes up to and over 300 kW. The variants, 1EDI3028AS and 1EDI3038AS with an output stage of 15 A, are claimed to be suitable for use in entry-level battery electric vehicle (BEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) inverters. In addition, the devices are equipped with a new tunable soft-off feature, which provides the necessary short-circuit performance to support the latest SiC and IGBT technologies.
Protection Features Include DESAT Self-Test
Monitoring and protection features facilitate the implementation of ISO 26262 functional-safety requirements and provide stable operation in harsh EMC environments. Monitoring functions, such as an integrated self-test for desaturation protection (DESAT) and overcurrent protection (OCP), improve the handling of latent system errors.
When an IGBT or MOSFET is completely on, it’s said to be saturated; when it exceeds the maximum current ratings, it’s known as over-saturation, which will eventually cause device failure. A desaturation protection circuit provides protection for power semiconductor switches (IGBTs or MOSFETs) against such events.
Furthermore, a continuously sampling, 12-bit, delta-sigma ADC with integrated current source can read the voltage directly from temperature measurement diodes or an NTC.
The gate drivers also provide reinforced insulation according to VDE 0884-17:2021-10 to enable safe isolation following standardized qualification and production testing procedures. The device package (PG-DSO-20) and compatibility with the latest power-stage technologies help engineers with system integration and design cycle times.
The products are based on a RoHS-conformant package solution developed to meet automotive requirements. This results in 260°C peak reflow temperatures while still passing full AEC-Q100 qualification.
An evaluation kit for the drivers comes with two boards: a power board and logic board. The power board includes a power module, cooler, DC-link capacitor, and gate driver. The logic board includes an AURIX 2G TC3x7 MCU, pre-installed software, and a USB stick.
The new EiceDRIVER gate drivers (1EDI3025AS, 1EDI3026AS, 1EDI3028AS, 1EDI3035AS, and 1EDI3038AS) can be ordered now. Samples are available.