Self-Powered Supplies for SCR, IGBT, GTO and IGCT Devices: A Review of The State of The Art

In this paper, self-powered supply (SPS) techniques for gate drivers of different high power switches such as SCRs, IGBTs, GTOs, IGCTs, MOSFETs, and ETOs are surveyed. System configurations and operation principles of selected proposals in the literature are demonstrated. Compared to the external power supplies, SPSs bear the advantages of lower system cost and size, and increased reliability of power devices. The merits and drawbacks of some techniques are also discussed.