IXYS and Clare intro optically coupled driver for power MOSFETs, IGBTs and thyristors

BEVERLY, USA. & BIEL, SWITZERLAND: IXYS Corp. and Clare Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of IXYS, announced the introduction of the IX3120 2.5A “optocoupled” Gate Drive. The IX3120 driver combines Clare’s expertise with the OptoMOS product line with the newly introduced ‘600 Series’ of high current gate drivers.

The input signal is provided by a light emitting diode (LED) which is optically coupled to an integrated circuit (IC) that contains a high performance high-speed CMOS power output stage. This combination provides, isolated driver capabilities without the use of isolation transformers, enabling smaller footprint and lower cost solutions.

“Optically isolated gate drivers are ideal for power switching and control applications where designers have bridge configurations of Power MOSFET, IGBTs or Thyristors, or any combination of them. This IX3120 solves the need to provide input to output isolation with the ease of driving the high-side devices in half bridge, full bridge configurations and in multilevel inverter power stages,” commented Mark Heisig, President of Clare-IXYS, a product family that combines the IXYS power semiconductor DNA, with Clare’s IC OptoMOS driver technology.

The IX3120 output is capable of providing 2.5A of peak drive current. The IX3120 has a wide supply voltage range of 15V to 30V and features high common mode rejection (minimum 25kV/us at Vcm = 1500V) which makes for excellent noise elimination. Under voltage lockout is provided for additional protection.

The IX3120 is well suited for applications that use switching power MOSFETs or IGBTs, such as DC/DC converters, SMPS, industrial and Solar inverters, motor drives, and uninterruptible power supplies.