ALISO VIEJO, Calif., May 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Microsemi Corporation (Nasdaq: MSCC), a leading provider of semiconductor solutions differentiated by power, security, reliability and performance, and Analog Devices, Inc., the leading global high-performance analog technology company, today announced a scalable Silicon Carbide (SiC) driver reference design solution based on a range of Microsemi SiC MOSFET products and Analog Device’s ADuM4135 5KV isolated gate driver. The dual SiC MOSFET driver reference design provides user-friendly design guides enabling faster time to market for customers using Microsemi SiC MOSFETs and supports the transition to Microsemi’s next generation SiC MOSFETs.
The new reference design provides customers with a highly isolated SiC MOSFET dual-gate driver switch to provide a means for evaluating SiC MOSFETs in a number of topologies. This includes modes optimized for half-bridge switching with synchronous dead time protection and asynchronous signal transfer with no protection. It can also be configured to provide concurrent drive with the requirement to study unclamped inductive switching (UIS) or double pulse testing. The reference design was developed for Microsemi SiC MOSFET discrete devices and modules and serves as an engineering tool for the evaluation of its portfolio of SiC devices. The board supports the modification of gate resistor values to accommodate most Microsemi discretes and modules.
“The dual SiC MOSFET driver reference design not only enables Microsemi customers to accelerate their product development efforts, but also accommodates the roll-out of our next-generation SiC MOSFETs to ensure a smooth transition for the end user,” said Jason Chiang, strategic marketing manager for Microsemi. “Customers taking a holistic view at power electronics design can utilize our new SiC driver solution to select the best driver and components for their designs, with the ability to scale to their specific SiC MOSFET needs.”
The dual SiC MOSFET driver reference design is ideal for a wide range of end markets and applications, including aerospace (actuation, air conditioning and power distribution), automotive (hybrid/electric vehicle powertrains, electric vehicle battery chargers, DC-to-DC converters, and energy recovery), defense (power supply and high power motor drive), industrial (photovoltaic inverters, motor drives, welding, uninterruptible power supply, switched-mode power supply, induction heating and oil drilling) and medical (MRI and X-ray power supply).
Analog Devices collaborates with Microsemi as part of the Accelerate Ecosystem, designed to reduce time to market for end customers and time to revenue for ecosystem participants. Microsemi’s Accelerate Ecosystem brings together leading silicon, intellectual property (IP), systems, software and design experts to deliver validated board and system-level solutions for end customers. Learn more at http://www.microsemi.com/design-support/accelerate-ecosystem-partners.
SiC products offers a number of advantages, including improved system efficiency with 25-50 percent power output increases for the same physical dimensions, efficiency at higher switching frequencies over Insulated Gate Bipilar Transistors (IGBTs), reduced system size and weight, operating stability over temperature (+175 degrees C) and significant cooling cost savings.
According to market research firm Yole Développement, the SiC power market is forecasted to be more than $550 million in 2021, with a 2015-2021 compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19 percent. The firm also describes how the benefits of SiC are influencing the development of new products and SiC technologies. Microsemi is well-positioned with these trends, with its SiC MOSFETs offering superior dynamic and thermal performance over conventional Silicon power MOSFETs, among other advantages. Incorporating Analog Device’s ADuM4135 isolated SiC driver solution into Microsemi’s MSCSICMDD/REF1 SiC MOSFET driver reference design further augments the company’s ability to cater to customers’ product development requirements.
Analog Devices’ isolated gate drivers with DESAT and a host of other protection features provide strong gate drive capability (6A) coupled with robust electrical isolation, critical for long life and safe operation in high voltage power conversion systems. The company’s isolated gate driver portfolio offers designers performance and reliability advantages over designs employing optocouplers or pulse transformers. Utilizing Analog Devices’ proven iCoupler®technology, the isolated gate driver series offers a number of key benefits in the high voltage and high switching speed applications that Wide Band Gap devices and specifically SiC MOSFETS enable. These include superior propagation delay of better than 50 ns with channel-to-channel matching of less than 5ns, Common Mode Transient Immunity (CMTI) of better than >100KV/us and capability to support lifetime working voltages of up to 1500V DC in a single package.
More information about Analog Devices’ isolated gate drivers can be found at http://www.analog.com/en/products/power-management/isolated-gate-drivers.html.
Product Demonstrations at PCIM & Availability
The dual SiC driver reference design (MSCSICMDD/REF1), which includes an evaluation board, is available for purchase orders now. For more information, visit https://www.microsemi.com/product-directory/mosfet/3539-sic-mosfet#documentation or contact sales.support@microsemi.com. The device will be showcased at the Power Conversion and Intelligent Motion (PCIM) Europe exhibition in Nuremburg, Germany May 16-18, 2017 in Microsemi’s booth, #6-318 and in Analog Devices’ booth, #6-458.
About Analog Devices
Analog Devices is the leading global high-performance analog technology company dedicated to solving the toughest engineering challenges. We enable our customers to interpret the world around us by intelligently bridging the physical and digital with unmatched technologies that sense, measure, power, connect and interpret. Visit http://www.analog.com.
About Microsemi
Microsemi Corporation (Nasdaq: MSCC) offers a comprehensive portfolio of semiconductor and system solutions for aerospace & defense, communications, data center and industrial markets. Products include high-performance and radiation-hardened analog mixed-signal integrated circuits, FPGAs, SoCs and ASICs; power management products; timing and synchronization devices and precise time solutions, setting the world’s standard for time; voice processing devices; RF solutions; discrete components; enterprise storage and communication solutions, security technologies and scalable anti-tamper products; Ethernet solutions; Power-over-Ethernet ICs and midspans; as well as custom design capabilities and services. Microsemi is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California, and has approximately 4,800 employees globally. Learn more at www.microsemi.com.
