STMicroelectronics (ST) has introduced a new isolated gate driver that provides 6kV of galvanic isolation, ensuring safety in consumer and industrial applications.

ST announced on the 2nd that it has added a new STGAP2SiCS to its STGAP family of isolated gate drivers.

This driver is optimized to safely control silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs and operates on high-voltage rails up to 1,200 V.

The STGAP2SiCS can generate a gate drive voltage of up to 26 V, providing a high under-voltage lockout (UVLO) threshold of 15.5 V, meeting the turn-on requirements of SiC MOSFETs.

If the driving voltage is too low due to a low supply voltage, UVLO turns off the MOSFET to prevent excessive losses. This driver has dual input pins, allowing the designer to determine the signal polarity of the gate drive.

The STGAP2SiCS provides 6kV of galvanic isolation between the input and gate drive outputs, ensuring safety in consumer and industrial applications.

The 4A output sink/source capability is suitable for medium and high power converters, power supplies and inverters in equipment such as high-end home appliances, industrial drivers, fans, induction heaters, welders and UPS.

This product is available in two output configurations.

The first configuration has a separate output pin that allows independent optimization of turn-on and turn-off times using dedicated gate resistors.

The second configuration supports high-frequency hard switching, featuring an active Miller clamp that limits oscillations in the gate-source voltage of the SiC MOSFET and a single output pin to prevent unwanted turn-on and improve reliability.

The input circuit is compatible with CMOS/TTL logic up to 3.3 V, allowing easy interfacing with various control ICs.

The STGAP2SiCS features integrated protection features, including a standby mode that reduces system power consumption, as well as hardware interlocks to prevent cross-conduction and thermal shutdown in both the low-voltage region and the high-voltage drive channels.

Additionally, it matches the propagation delay between low-voltage and high-voltage regions to prevent cycle distortion and minimize energy loss.

Total delay is less than 75ns, enabling accurate PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation) control up to high switching frequencies.

The STGAP2SiCS is housed in a wide-body SO-8W package that ensures 8 mm of creepage distance within a small footprint. The price is $2 for 1,000 pieces.