ICs Shrink Gate-Drive Circuits

Promising to reduce the size of gate-drive circuits by one half in motor drives, the IR2180 series MOSFET and IGBT gate driver ICs target applications up to 12 kW and also claim to reduce part counts by over 30%. The IR2181 device integrates one high-side and one low-side gate driver. By contrast, the IR2183 IC is a half-bridge driver with a separate low-side inverted input and a high-side input. The IR2184, in turn, is a single-input, half-bridge driver with a separate shutdown pin. Logic inputs for all three devices are compatible with 3.3V or 5V CMOS or LSTTL and VCC and VBS ranges from 10V to 20V. Prices begin at $1.74 each/1,000. INTERNATIONAL RECTIFIER, El Segundo, CA. (310) 252-7019.