SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE

• US 20180167063A1
• Filed: 02/07/2018
• Published: 06/14/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fuji Electric Company Limited (Fuji Electric Systems Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Electric Company Limited (Fuji Electric Systems Company Limited)
• Inventors: AKAHANE, Masashi
• Granted Patent: US 10,193,542 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/08 Circuits specially adapted for the generation of control voltages for semiconductor devices incorporated in static converters
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/088 for the simultaneous control of series or parallel connected semiconductor devices
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/538 in a push-pull configuration H02M7/5375 takes precedence ; with oscillating arrangements H02M7/53832, H02M7/53846
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/102 in field-effect transistor switches
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2217/0081 Power supply means, e.g. to the switch driver

Abstract

A semiconductor device includes: a bootstrap capacitor charged via a diode when a low-side switching device is ON, a resulting charge voltage being applied to a high-side driver circuit when the low-side switching device is OFF; a supplementary bootstrap capacitor charged when the low-side switching device is OFF; a Zener diode that regulates a charge voltage of the supplementary bootstrap capacitor; and a control circuit that applies the charge voltage of the supplementary bootstrap capacitor to the high-side driver circuit via a switch circuit when the charge voltage of the bootstrap capacitor decreases to less than a prescribed voltage while a high-side switching device is ON.

Claims

1. A semiconductor device for driving a high-side switching device and a low-side switching device ON and OFF in a complementary manner, the high-side switching device and the low-side switching device being totem pole-connected with a node therebetween to be connected to a load to drive the load, the semiconductor device comprising:

a high-side driver circuit and a low-side driver circuit which respectively switch the high-side switching device and the low-side switching device ON and OFF in a complementary manner;

a bootstrap capacitor connected to a power supply that supplies driving power to the low-side driver circuit via a diode such that the bootstrap capacitor is charged when the low-side switching device is ON, and a resulting charge voltage is boosted and applied to the high-side driver circuit when the low-side switching device is OFF;

a supplementary bootstrap capacitor connected in parallel to the bootstrap capacitor via a switch circuit such that the supplementary bootstrap capacitor is charged by an intermediate voltage at an intermediate node between the high-side and low-side driver circuits that is to be connected to said node between the high-side switching device and the low-side switching device when the high-side switching device is ON;

a Zener diode that is connected to said intermediate node and that regulates a charging voltage of the supplementary bootstrap capacitor; and

a control circuit that controls the switch circuit so as to apply a charge voltage of the supplementary bootstrap capacitor to the high-side driver circuit when the charge voltage of the bootstrap capacitor decreases to less than a prescribed voltage while the high-side switching device is ON.

2. The semiconductor device according to claim 1,

wherein the high-side driver circuit operates using a voltage of the intermediate node as an operating voltage, and

wherein the Zener diode sets the charging voltage of the supplementary bootstrap capacitor that is charged by the intermediate voltage to a voltage of the power supply that supplies the driving power to the low-side driver circuit.

3. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit determines that the charge voltage of the bootstrap capacitor has decreased to less than the prescribed voltage when an ON time of the high-side switching device exceeds a prescribed time.

4. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the switch circuit includes a first switch and a second switch that connect the supplementary bootstrap capacitor in parallel to power supply lines for the high-side driver circuit when the charge voltage of the bootstrap capacitor decreases to less than the prescribed voltage while the high-side switching device is ON, and a third switch and a fourth switch that apply the charging voltage to the supplementary bootstrap capacitor when the high-side switching device is ON and the first switch and the second switch are OFF.

5. The semiconductor device according to claim 4, wherein each of the first to the fourth switches comprises a bidirectional analog switch.

6. The semiconductor device according to claim 4, wherein the control circuit operates using a voltage of the intermediate node that is to be connected to said node between the totem pole-connected high-side switching device and low-side switching device as an operating supply voltage, and

wherein the control circuit includes:

a voltage decrease detector which outputs a voltage decrease detection signal upon detecting a decrease in a supply voltage applied to the high-side driver circuit; and

a control logic circuit which, on the basis of the voltage decrease detection signal, generates switching signals for respectively switching the first to fourth switches ON and OFF.

7. The semiconductor device according to claim 4, wherein the first switch and the second switch ON and OFF in a complementary manner relative to the third switch and the fourth switch.

8. The semiconductor device according to claim 1,

wherein the switch circuit includes a first diode and a first switch that connect the supplementary bootstrap capacitor in parallel to power supply lines for the high-side driver circuit when the charge voltage of the bootstrap capacitor decreases to less than the prescribed voltage while the high-side switching device is ON, and a second diode switch and a second switch that apply the charging voltage to the supplementary bootstrap capacitor when the high-side switching device is ON and the charge voltage of the bootstrap capacitor is above the prescribed voltage, and

wherein the first diode becomes conductive when the charge voltage of the supplementary bootstrap capacitor exceeds the charge voltage of the bootstrap capacitor, and the second diode becomes conductive when the charge voltage of the supplementary bootstrap capacitor becomes less than a voltage regulated by the Zener diode.

9. The semiconductor device according to claim 4, further comprising:

fifth and sixth switches that isolate the bootstrap capacitor from the power supply that supplies the driving power to the low-side driver circuit when the first and second switches are ON; and

seventh and eighth switches that conduct current in a complementary manner relative to the fifth and sixth switches and that apply the charging voltage to the bootstrap capacitor.

10. The semiconductor device according to claim 9, wherein each of the fifth to eighth switches comprises a bidirectional analog switch.

11. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein a cathode of the Zener diode is connected to said intermediate node, an anode of the Zener diode regulates a voltage on a negative side relative to the intermediate voltage, and a voltage between the anode and the cathode of the Zener diode is the charging voltage.