Silicon Labs isolated drives drive the development of high-speed power delivery systems

     Silicon Labs introduces a new family of isolated drives that address the critical needs of cutting-edge power systems. Based on Silicon Labs' proven digital isolation technology, the new Si827xISOdriver family offers the highest immunity in the isolated drive market. This industry-leading common mode transient suppression (CMTI) makes the Si827x driver ideal for power systems with fast switching and potential noise. Targeted applications include power supplies for servers, computers and base stations, solar inverters and micro-inverters, Class D amplifiers, motor controllers, electric/hybrid vehicle (EV/HEV) chargers, etc.

     For power designers, the most important power indicator is power per unit volume (W/mm3). To maximize power density, many designers choose faster switching frequencies for their designs. Power systems that use high-power semiconductor switches, such as silicon-based MOSFETs and new types of gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs, require high-current isolated drivers to control the switches. Fast switching improves system efficiency, but also creates higher transient noise, which can cause signal loss or permanent damage due to latching. The Si827x gate driver provides excellent immunity to transient noise caused by high-speed switching, thereby effectively protecting the power system.

     The Si827x gate driver offers industry-leading noise immunity (200kV/μs) and latch rejection (400kV/μs), which is twice the noise immunity class of other current gate drivers. With its industry-leading high-performance immunity, the Si827x family eliminates the risks associated with faster switching rates and prevents modulation loss and latching, which are major safety concerns. The high latching specifications of the Si827x series make the gate drivers extremely reliable and effective in preventing permanent latching damage.

     The Si827x series provides single or dual isolated gate drivers for power converter applications that can be controlled by two independent inputs or one input. The gate driver can be powered in a wide VDD voltage range of 2.5-5.5V, with a maximum drive supply voltage of 30V. The lower 2.5V VDDI voltage enables developers to design systems with low-voltage power supplies that reduce energy consumption, increase system efficiency, and are compatible with low-voltage powered microcontrollers (MCUS), such as Silicon Labs' EFM32 Gecko MCUS.

     The Si827x gate driver features an EN(high level active Enable) pin instead of the typical DIS(low level active) pin, undervoltage lock (UVLO) fault protection, deburring for filtering noise inputs, and high precision dead-time (DT pin) programmability. Using the DT feature, developers are able to precisely control the "dead time" between the two switching drivers, thereby optimizing power system efficiency and safety.

     Ross Sabolcik, vice president of Power Products at Silicon Labs, said: "Silicon Labs' new Si827x gate driver family solves real-world customer problems by making fast switching safer, supporting low-voltage 2.5V operation, and delivering superior timing performance. The Si827x gate driver's best-in-class disturbance immunity allows developers to safely implement power systems with fast-switching MOSFETs or faster GaN and SiC switches, significantly increasing overall system efficiency while enhancing reliability."

     With Silicon Labs' patented capacitance-coupled isolation technology, the Si827x gate driver delivers extremely low electromagnetic interference (EMI) radiation, long service life, fast and precise timing performance, and a wide temperature range from -40°C to +125°C.