Optocouplers add efficiency to motor inverters

Avago Technologies has announced the latest addition to its intelligent gate drive optocoupler product family. The new ACPL-332J and -331J series of high-speed IGBT optocouplers are easy-to-implement in industrial inverter and power-management applications, such as isolated IGBT/power MOSFET gate drives, AC and brushless DC motor drives, industrial inverters and uninterruptible power supplies.

Avago's intelligent gate drivers improve precision and efficiency of motor inverters by featuring Active Miller Clamp, integrated Vce desaturation detection, undervoltage lockout protection, built-in IGBT shutdown, and isolated open collector fault feedback. Active Miller clamping eliminates the need for a negative gate drive, saving negative power supply and PCB space. Additionally, optocouplers have CMR which ensures reliable operation under noisy environments.

The ACPL-332J and -331J are CSA-approved and approvals from other international safety standards, such as UL1577 and IEC/EN/DIN EN 60747-5-2, are expected.