High-Voltage Half-Bridge Drivers Contain Bootstrap Diode

The L6384, L6385 and L6386 high-voltage half-bridge driver ICs are all designed to drive two power MOS or IGBT transistors, one in high-side configuration and one in low-side configuration. Compared to alternative discrete, pulse transformer and optocoupler implementations, the ICs cut component counts and increase reliability in switchmode power supplies, electronic lamp ballasts and motor control circuits. They're said to be the only integrated gate drivers in the 600V class that include the bootstrap diode.The three versions differ in some additional circuit features and in their driving logic. Type L6384 has an externally selectable dead time, a clamping Zener diode on the V_CC connection, and one logic input that drives the output power devices in push-pull mode. The L6385 has undervoltage lockout on the V_boot connection, and the L6386 has an uncommitted diagnostic comparator with open drain output.