Advanced Scopes And Probes Help Optimize SMPS Gate Drives For EMC
by Michael Fuchs, Bernhard Auinger and Lukas Pichler, Institute of Electronics (IFE) at the Graz University of Technology, Styria, Austria; Markus Herdin, Rohde & Schwarz, Munich, Germany; and Bernd Deutschmann, IFE, Styria, Austria , How2Power Today, Aug 15 2019
Focus:
The Institute of Electronics (IFE) at the Graz University of Technology is conducting
electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) research on gate-drive methods with a view to minimizing
spurious emissions (EMI) produced by fast-switching wide-bandgap power devices. High
performance oscilloscopes such as the R&S RTO2000 enable these optimization measures to be
implemented on the developer's lab bench. This article describes the oscilloscope measurements
necessary for gate-drive optimization and offers some measurement examples to illustrate the
setups and measurement results that can be obtained. Among the topics discussed are the use of
scope features to observe the effects of modified gate-drive waveforms and spread spectrum
modulation on the emissions spectrum, the use of near-field probes to locate sources of
interference, and the use of differential high-voltage probes to assess power loss across a
semiconductor component. The article concludes by briefly describing IFE’s research into
simulation tools for predicting the EMC behavior of an electronic device and then proposing
circuit design changes to reduce the emissions.
What you’ll learn:
- How to observe effects of changes in power supply gate drive on the emissions spectrum
- How to use advanced oscilloscope features to identify and troubleshoot EMI
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