Compact, efficient and highly robust, the new driver IC uses Power Integrations’ high-speed FluxLink™ communications technology to ensure system safety even during fault conditions. FluxLink technology dramatically improves the reliability and isolation capability of the new AEC-Q100-qualified gate drivers, replacing optocouplers and capacitive or silicon-based inductively coupled solutions. SCALE-iDriver devices also include critical protection features such as desaturation monitoring, primary and secondary Undervoltage Lock-out (UVLO) and Advanced Soft Shut Down (ASSD) that protect the switch during short-circuit turn-off.

Comments Michael Hornkamp, senior director of marketing for automotive gate-driver products at Power Integrations: “The SCALE-iDriver family with FluxLink technology supports safe, cost-effective designs for a wide range of IGBT drivers for electric vehicle applications including powertrain, on-board chargers and charger stations, and other high reliability drivers and inverters.”

SCALE-iDriver ICs minimize the number of external components required, eliminating tantalum and electrolytic capacitors and simplifying the isolated power supply, requiring only one transformer secondary winding. A simple two-layer PCB can be used, further increasing design simplicity and easing supply-chain management.

Power Integrations’ AEC-Q100-qualified SCALE-iDriver SID1181KQ gate drivers are available now, priced at $4.81 in 10,000-piece quantities. Technical information is available from the Power Integrations website at www.power.com/products/scale-idriver-ic-family/sid11xxkq/.