Littelfuse — CPC1596 Isolated Gate Driver

The CPC1596 from Littelfuse is the world’s first 570 V-rated, optically-isolated MOSFET gate driver that can provide typical load turn-on speeds of 40 µs and that does not require an external power supply.

The CPC1596 enables designers to implement an optically-isolated dc relay using a single MOSFET or an ac relay with two MOSFETs, without needing an external power supply or any additional devices to boost start-up speeds.

Systems based on the CPC1596 need no auxiliary power supply because the driver includes an on-board load-biasing circuit. The CPC1596 regulates a voltage drawn from the load supply of up to 570 V down to 12.2 V for internal use. An external storage capacitor stabilizes the circuit and stores the voltage needed to turn on the external MOSFET.

The CPC1596, can be controlled via a logic port, and supplies the charge stored in the external capacitor to the MOSFET gate when the input control current is applied to the LED of the gate driver. When the MOSFET is turned off, the storage capacitor charges from the load voltage via the regulated internal voltage in preparation for the next time it is turned on.

Provided in a small, eight-pin package, the CPC1596 offers a flexible solution that enables designers to minimize the board area occupied by the power circuit.