
© by SEMIKRON / 2019-07-23 / Technical Explanation / SKYPER
®
42 LJ R
PROMGT.1026/ Rev.7/ Template Technical Explanation
Page 19/35
4.10
Gate resistors | Secondary side
The SKYPER
42 LJ R driver has three outputs channels at each secondary side
(TOP_ON/TOP_OFF/TOP_SOFTOFF and BOT_ON/BOT_OFF/BOT_SOFTOFF) to provide the possibility of
separate optimization of the semiconductor’s turn-on and turn-off behavior. By default, the driver uses the
TOP_OFF and BOT_OFF output to turn-off of the semiconductor. The SOFTOFF output will be activated by
the driver in case a secondary side error event was detected to ensure a soft turn-off of the connected
semiconductor, which in turn shall prevent voltage overshoots and protect the semiconductor against
destruction. Therefore it is mandatory to populate a suitable soft-off gate resistor since otherwise the driver
cannot turn-off the semiconductor via the soft-off path. A detailed explanation of when the driver is
activating the soft-off path is given in chapter 4.8.
The gate resistor influences the IGBT switching time, switching losses, reverse bias safe operating area
(RBSOA), short-circuit safe operating area (SCSOA), EMI, dv/dt, di/dt and reverse recovery current of the
freewheeling diode. It has to be selected and optimized very carefully in accordance with the individual
application parameters, e.g. IGBT technology, diode, switching frequency, losses, application layout,
inductivity / stray inductance, DC-link voltage and driver capability. The complete design of an application
must be viewed as a whole, with due considering of the above-mentioned parameters at least. Interactive
effects within the whole application must be evaluated and accommodated. [4]
The minimum value of the gate resistors R
G(on)
and R
G(off)
could be calculated by the following equation:
𝑅
𝐺(min)
= 𝑅
𝐺
+ 𝑅
𝐺(𝑖𝑛𝑡)
+ 𝑅
𝐸
=
𝑉
𝐺(𝑜𝑛)
−𝑉
𝐺(𝑜𝑓𝑓)
𝐼
𝑜𝑢𝑡(𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘)
.
The minimum value of the R
G(softoff)
is 1Ω. Additional hints how to determine the values of the gate resistors
are given in [4].
Figure 14: SKYPER
®
42 LJ R | Secondary side | Gate resistors
Please note that some of SEMIKRON’s driver cores using an ASIC internal N-channel MOSFET for Soft Off.
To protect this MOSFET against back swings when turning-off the TOP_ON/BOT_ON channel it is
recommended to place the R
G(softoff)
resistor in series to the R
G(off)
resistor.
Since each turn-on and turn-off of a semiconductor means charging or discharging the parasitic input
capacitance of the semiconductor, the gate resistor has to be pulse load proofed. For this reason
SEMIKORN recommends the use of following resistors.
Description
Shape
Manufacturer
Art. no.
MELF resistors
MELF / MiniMELF SMD
Vishay Beyschlag,
Vishay Draloric,
Vitrohm
PRO MELF resistors,
SMM0207, SMM 0204,
ZCM series
DC+
R
G(on)_TOP
R
G(softoff)_TOP
T1
SKYPER
®
42 LJ R
TOP_ON X100:05
TOP_OFF X100:06
TOP_SOFTOFF X100:09
PWR_GND_TOP X100:08
R
G(off)_TOP
AC
R
G(int)_TOP
R
E
_
T
O
P
IGBT