1. From basic driver to advanced driver

1.1 The elementary driver function

To switch, power semiconductor components require a control circuit supplied with energy by a power supply. These elements are grouped together in a structure commonly referred to as a "driver" or "gate driver". In the remainder of this article, and for ease of reading, only the term driver will be used.

In this first part, we will focus on the elementary driver function, without including the secondary functions that ensure, for example, the integrity of the semiconductor device. The purpose of this section is to present the problem of the driver function in the context of power electronics.

Static converters are made up of semiconductor components whose conduction state depends either on the electrical...