A Review on Design Considerations & Limitations of Resonant Gate Drive Circuit in VHF Operations

(RGD) circuits operating in very high frequency (VHF) switching is discussed. The specific RGD circuits are normally applied only for certain applications due to their design limitations and drawbacks. The isolation techniques must be considered to avoid mismatch and interruption of signals as well as the dead time delay, size of components and choice of optimized parameter values. Low conduction losses and higher switching speed are important in achieving high efficiency of the driver. A new RGD circuit is proposed using power MOSFET device to show its robustness in achieving low conduction loss and high switching speed. In the near future, high power GaN HEMT can be used as a substitute for power MOSFET switch in VHF switching operation. Even though this device is not yet commercially available, the simulation study on RGD circuits can be realized through modeling. Studies have shown that some RGD circuit designs using power MOSFET can be modified and replaced with this device. However, the investigation on circuit performance and reliability on signal integrity have to be further investigated due to their differences in semiconductor properties and electrical characteristics.