Bidirectional source to source stacked FET gating circuit
First Claim
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1. A bidirectional FET circuit comprising:
- a plurality of pairs of enhancement mode power FETs, each pair comprising first and second FETs connected source to source in series relation, said pairs connected in series between first and second main power terminals, current conduction in one direction flowing through the series connection of the drain-source current path of said first FET and the forward biased substrate-drain PN junction of said second FET, and in the opposite direction through the series connection of the drain-source current path of said second FET and the forward biased substrate-drain PN junction of said first FET; and
a plurality of gating circuits, one gating circuit for each said pair of power FETs for driving the latter into conduction, wherein said gating circuits are stacked in series for driving said pairs of power FETs sequentially into conduction from a single gate terminal.
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Abstract
Stacked gating circuitry is provided for controlling a plurality of pairs of power FETs stacked in series, each pair being bidirectionally source to source connected for AC conduction. All the power FETs turn on from a single gate terminal through series connected current sources, one current source for each FET pair. The FETs turn on in ripple effect.
52 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A bidirectional FET circuit comprising:
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a plurality of pairs of enhancement mode power FETs, each pair comprising first and second FETs connected source to source in series relation, said pairs connected in series between first and second main power terminals, current conduction in one direction flowing through the series connection of the drain-source current path of said first FET and the forward biased substrate-drain PN junction of said second FET, and in the opposite direction through the series connection of the drain-source current path of said second FET and the forward biased substrate-drain PN junction of said first FET; and a plurality of gating circuits, one gating circuit for each said pair of power FETs for driving the latter into conduction, wherein said gating circuits are stacked in series for driving said pairs of power FETs sequentially into conduction from a single gate terminal.
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2. A bidirectional FET circuit comprising:
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a plurality of pairs of enhancement mode power FETs, each pair comprising first and second FETs connected source to source in series relation, said pairs connected in series between first and second main power terminals, current conduction in one direction flowing through the series connection of the drain-source current path of said first FET and the forward biased substrate-drain PN junction of said second FET, and in the opposite direction through the series connection of the drain-source current path of said second FET and the forward biased substrate-drain PN junction of said first FET; and a plurality of current sources connected in series, each current source connected to the gates of a respective said FET pair for driving the latter into conduction. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A three terminal bidirectional FET circuit comprising:
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a plurality of pairs of enhancement mode power FETs, each pair comprising first and second FETs connected source to source in series relation, said pair connected in series between first and second main power terminals, current conduction in one direction flowing through the series connection of the drain-source current path of said first FET and the forward biased substrate-drain PN junction of said second FET, and in the opposite direction through the series connection of the drain-source current path of said second FET and the forward biased substrate-drain PN junction of said first FET; a plurality of gating FETs connected in series for successive turn-on, each said gating FET also connected to a respective one of said pairs of power FETs for like successive turn-on of the latter. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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Specification