Review of IGBT Intelligent Gate Drive and Protection Strategies

In the realm of power electronics systems, gate drive and protection strategies are of paramount importance, bolstering reliability, efficiency, and safety. This article provides a comprehensive overview of existing methods for gate drive and short-circuit protection of insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT), further elucidating the latest advancements with intelligent features. The structure of an intelligent driver with the trend of integrating more sophisticated features is presented first, followed by descriptions of its functions, such as overshoot optimization, electrical isolation, and sensor monitoring. The methods for gate drive are discussed and compared, particularly emphasizing the benefits of self-adaptive gate drive in reducing losses and overshoot. Subsequently, different strategies for short-circuit detection and shutdown protection are explored, complemented by discussions on recent short-circuit protection techniques. Finally, the promising approaches for future works are recommended. This review is intended to provide practical solutions for the design and development of IGBT operating circuits in the existing and emerging applications.