Analysis of the different impact of the external Gate Resistance in 3-lead and 4-lead SuperJunction MOSFETs

Abstract

In this paper, a comparison between two SuperJunction MOSFET technologies that only differ in the package solution (3-lead vs 4-lead) has been performed. A PFC boost converter test vehicle has been adopted to compare them at different gate resistance and load current to analyze their mutual effect on the performance of the device. The results highlighted that the switching energy reduction in 4-lead MOSFETs increases as the load increases. This advantage also intensifies as the gate resistance increases. Another interesting aspect that arose from the analyses is that the two packaging solutions present the same damping of the oscillation although the higher switching speed of the 4-lead solution involves greater current derivative, overcurrent and oscillations amplitude which could cause more EMI issues.