April 01, 2020 by Asma Arooj
Toshiba has launched the TLP5231 dual output IGBT/MOSFET (insulated-gate bipolar transistor/metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor) gate driver equipped with additional built-in functionality—intended to simplify the development process for a wide range of applications for engineers.
The dual output IGBT gate driver accepts low-power input from a controller integrate circuit, or IC, and produces a high-current drive input.
The TLP5231 is a fully-equipped multi-functional IGBT/MOSFET gate driver that simplifies a wide range of applications, including industrial inverters, uninterruptible power supplies, and power conditioners for solar energy and motor controls.
The TLP5231 consists of high-intensity infrared LEDs coupled with two high-gain and high-speed ICs.
The product is suitable as a pre-driver that contains a pair of outputs that are devised to drive power devices through external p-channel and n-channel MOSFETs used as current buffers. The photocoupler enables the use of MOSFETs with various current ratings, which can be controlled by rail-to-rail gate voltage.
This highly integrated driver has a 2.5A maximum continuous output current and a 10mA forward current with 410mW of power dissipation.
Toshiba's TLP5231 gate driver. Image Credit: Toshiba.
The TLP5231 includes desaturation fault detection, which provides protection for IGBT/MOSFETs against short-circuiting, open collector isolated fault feedback, and soft IGBT turn-off.
The TLP5231 gate driver offers the following benefits in industrial inverters and motors for engineering applications.
It is available in a small SO-16 package. Toshiba specifically added these features to make it compact, affordable, and easy to implement.
Toshiba’s IGBT/MOSFET driver incorporates an undervoltage lockout (or UVLO) feature, which prevents the device from excessive heating caused by unusual conditions.
The driver also includes a circuit that bypasses Miller current to ground in order to prevent the IGBT undergoing false turn-on due to an increase in the gate voltage.
The overcurrent protection feature of IGBT photo-coupler senses an excessive current that flows in the circuit and protects it against permanent damage accordingly.
The TLP5231 photo-coupler guarantees a high common-mode transient immunity of 25kv/µs, which makes it more stable for an electrically noisy environment.
The product's minimum creepage and clearance distances are 8.0 mm with a maximum height of 2.3 mm making it acceptable for safety-critical applications.
The TLP5231’s working voltages and operating temperatures range between 1.7V to 5V and −40°C to 110°C respectively. It offers minimum isolation voltages of 5,000Vrms with 0.4 mm of internal isolation thickness. Propagation delay ranges between 100 to 300 ns.
This newly devised TLP5231 gate driver provides full-swing output, making it possible to reduce the power consumption of the inverter system.
The TLP5231 also incorporates over-current protection to reduce the costs of external components and the required board area.
The TLP5231 gate driver photo-coupler with a MOSFET buffer configuration provides a peak output of 1A.
It is used as uninterruptible power supplies.
It can be used in AC and brushless DC motors.
Due to the applications and compactness, engineers can utilise the TLP5231 in various dimensions—including industrial inverters, air conditioners, inverters, uninterruptible power supplies, photovoltaic power conditioning systems, and AC servers.
