Renesas develops 1200V compatible gate driver ICs for SiC-equipped inverters, etc
On January 25, 2023, Renesas Electronics announced a new gate driver IC product “RAJ2930004AGM” for driving SiC (silicon carbide) MOSFETs and Si (silicon) IGBTs (insulated gate bipolar transistors) equipped with xEV (electric vehicle) inverters. was announced, and sample shipments began on the same day. Mass production is scheduled for the first quarter of 2024. The company exhibited this product at the 15th Car Electronics Technology Expo (January 25-27, 2023
A gate driver IC is a component that receives a control signal from an inverter control microcomputer and drives a power semiconductor. In line with the higher voltage of xEV batteries, efforts are being made to improve the insulation voltage. Renesas has increased the insulation voltage of the conventional product “R2A25110KSP” from 2.5kVrms to 3.75kVrms this time, making it compatible with 1200V power devices. In addition to Renesas’ Si IGBT power devices, it can also be used in combination with other companies’ Si IGBTs and SiC power devices.
By the way, Renesas is not currently developing SiC products, but in November 2022, at the electronics international exhibition “electronica 2022” (November 15-18, 2022, Munich, Germany), “In the near future, SiC power We plan to formally announce our entry into the semiconductor market, and at that time we would like to provide solutions that include gate driver ICs rather than just power semiconductor devices,” said Vivek, executive officer and deputy general manager of the Automotive Solutions Business Headquarters. says Bhan.
