Analog Devices announces 4-A dual-channel gate driver integrated with iCoupler digital isolation technology

NORWOOD, USA: Analog Devices Inc. has introduced a 4-A dual-channel isolated gate driver integrated with ADI’s iCoupler digital isolation technology.

Analog Devices’ new dual-channel gate driver is effective for driving high-voltage switching FETs (field-effect transistors) in synchronous rectification dc-to-dc converter applications.

By integrating digital isolation and a 4-A gate driver into a small, industry standard SOIC (small-outline integrated circuit) package, the ADuM3220 replaces traditional discrete gate driver solutions, saving up to 70 percent of the board space and reducing costs by up to 30 percent for small dc-to-dc module designs.

Discrete offerings use separate components for isolation and gate drive, including large, difficult to use pulse transformers and optocouplers that provide poor performance and degrade over time. The new ADuM3220 dual-channel gate driver offers better propagation delay (60 ns max) and channel-to-channel skew (5 ns max) than competitive products, along with excellent reliability associated with CMOS-based digital isolation.

“Working closely with our power supply customers, we learned that many designers use discrete isolators and gate drivers, which can take up quite a lot of board space,” said Peter Henry, vice president, Power Management Products, Analog Devices.

“ADI’s iCoupler digital isolation technology integrates the gate driver function with two channels of high-performance digital isolation technology; this radically simplifies design and reduces design costs.”