This paper presents a 2.4-GHz Class-F⁻¹ power amplifier-based RF signal-power controlled gate driver aimed to drive SiC MOSFETs. The innovations of this GHz RF gate driver include: (i) direct RF triggering of power device with inherent EMI mitigation, (ii) single-chip implementation of an isolated gate driver with an ultralow footprint, and (iii) package-level integration within power module. The operating principle of the RF gate driver is introduced along with the design of 2.4-GHz transformer. Finite element analysis (FEA) simulations of the transformer demonstrate a coupling capacitance of less than 1 pF and the peak field is 5 kV/mm at the PCB edge and ~2.5 kV/mm between windings. Circuit-level simulations further verify that the proposed gate driver can reliably drive 1.7-kV SiC MOSFETs. The experimental validation will be presented in the full paper.
