Steady-state analytical expression for voltage shift by diode in resonant drivers <Abstract> Because high-frequency operation requirements to power converters, it is necessary to design soft-switching driver circuits for driving SiC and GaN power devices. In the resonant driver, the clamp diode is often added between a gate and a source terminals of the driven MOSFET. By adding a diode, the sinusoidal voltage is not clamped but is shifted with bias voltage. The mechanism of the voltage shift has not been explained analytically yet. This paper gives analytical explanations of the voltage shift by adding the clamp diode on the class-E driver. By carrying out steady-state analysis, it is clarified that the voltage shifts occur due to resonant capacitance and gate capacitance. The explanations are valid for not only class-E driver but other resonant driver circuits. Therefore, it is expected that the given theory can be applied resonant driver designs widely and effectively. The validity of the analysis is confirmed by comparisons among analytical, simulated, and experimental results. |