Analysis of Common-Source CoolMOS FETs-Based Bidirectional Switch Gate Driver for Vienna Rectifier Application

The rapid growth of electromobility and the increasing deployment of EV chargers emphasize the importance of pulse rectifiers with built-in power factor correction (PFC) filters. The new switching power devices offer higher converter switching frequencies, which enable a decrease in nominal values of passive components, such as inductors and capacitors, and their physical dimensions. Devices like CoolMOS and GaN enable operation with low switching power, but are usually constructed for lower drain-source voltage. From this point of view, the Vienna Rectifier is a prospective type of pulse rectifier with built-in PFC because of its reduced blocking-voltage requirements for the power transistors. Nevertheless, faster switching semiconductor devices with lower switching gate charge require more precise driving circuit tuning and setup. There are many scientific papers focused on the driving setup and techniques of the power transistors applied in H-bridge topologies. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the commutation loop and the related switching phenomena of the Vienna Rectifier topology. This paper evaluates the driver setup for a CoolMOS-based Vienna Rectifier with anti-serial connection of transistors forming a bidirectional switch. The switching transients are analyzed and simulated. Subsequently, the real driver settings are evaluated on the real prototype.