June 16, 2014, Seoul – Infineon Technologies (Korea Representative Director Seung-soo Lee) has launched a single-channel gate driver for the EiceDRIVER™ family, developed for high-end industrial systems. The 1EDS20I12SV EiceDRIVER™ Safe driver component features the first real-time adjustable slew rate control (SRC) on IGBTs. The safe electrical isolation of the 1EDS-SRC EiceDRIVER Safe complies with the stringent VDE 0884-10 standard and features specially developed short-circuit protection. This driver component offers a wide range of applications and high system efficiency in high isolation voltage applications of 1200V.

Through slew rate control, developers can select from a total of 11 collector-emitter voltages upon turn-on. This means that the switching speed and EMI characteristics of the IGBT can be flexibly changed during operation according to design requirements. Fast IGBT turn-on enables high switching frequencies, while slow turn-on reduces electromagnetic interference (EMI) and voltage peaks caused by the motor. This reduces insulation load and extends motor service life, thereby lowering the customer's overall system costs.

Enhanced switching characteristics enable developers to use smaller dv/dt filters, and depending on the application design, the filters can be eliminated, thereby reducing overall system costs. Compared to conventional driver components without slew rate control, the 1EDS-SRC EiceDRIVER Safe delivers approximately 30% reduction in turn-on losses. This newly introduced driver IC is the first driver component with safe electrical isolation to achieve this performance.

In addition, various protection functions prevent system overload and damage during turn-off. The standard configuration includes undervoltage protection (UVLO), and an optional automatic turn-off function in the event of a short circuit is provided. The short circuit itself can be detected in two ways: by monitoring the collector-emitter voltage (non-saturation detection) or by detecting a voltage drop across a current sensing resistor.

In both cases, the 1EDS-SRC EiceDRIVER Safe implements soft-off, allowing for slower turn-off in the event of a fault. Voltage drop during a fault can be controlled more precisely using TLTO (Two-Stage Turn-Off), which is already familiar in other EiceDRIVER components. The 1EDS-SRC EiceDRIVER Safe can disable automatic short-circuit turn-off for the driver IC, providing optimal control over short circuits, particularly in three-phase inverters.

Oliver Hellmund, Product Marketing Manager for EiceDRIVER at Infineon, stated, "The 1EDS-SRC EiceDRIVER Safe adds a robust, highly reliable, and highly flexible component to Infineon's driver IC portfolio for complex and sensitive industrial high-voltage applications. The 1EDS-SRC EiceDRIVER Safe is the industry's only high-voltage power semiconductor that allows customers to configure the gate voltage slew rate in real-time according to specified individual system requirements. This innovation is the result of Infineon's efforts to meet the growing demands for design flexibility and safety in the high-end sector of industrial production technology."