A High-Temperature, High-Voltage SOI Gate Driver IC with High Output Current and On-Chip Low-Power Temperature Sensor

High-temperature power conversion modules (DC-DC converters, inverters, etc.) have enormous potential in extreme environment applications, including automotive, aerospace, geothermal, nuclear, and well logging. Power-to-volume and power-to-weight ratios of these modules can be significantly improved by employing Silicon Carbide (SiC) based power switches (MOSFET or JFET). Wide bandgap material such as SiC is capable of much higher temperature operation than conventional Silicon based power devices. For successful realization of such high temperature power conversion modules, associated control electronics also need to perform at high temperature. This paper presents a Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) based high-temperature, high-voltage gate driver integrated circuit (IC) with improved peak output current drive over previous work as well as an on-chip low-power temperature sensor. This driver IC has been primarily designed for automotive applications where the under hood temperature can reach 200°C. This new gate driver prototype has been designed and implemented in a 0.8-micron, 2-poly, and 3metal Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS (BCD) on SOI process and has been successfully tested up to 200oC ambient temperature driving a SiC MOSFET or a SiC normally-ON JFET. In this design, the peak output current capability of the driver is 5 A and is thus capable of driving several power switches connected in parallel. An ultra low-power on-chip temperature supervisory circuit has also been integrated into the die to safeguard the driver circuit against excessive die temperature (≥ 220°C). This approach utilizes the increased diode leakage current at higher temperature to monitor the die temperature. Up to 200°C, the power consumption of the proposed temperature sensor circuit is below 10 μW.