ACPL-P341-500E Isolators

ACPL-P341-500E application field and working principle

ACPL-P341-500E is an isolated gate driver device developed by Avago Technologies, which mainly belongs to Isolators - Gate Drivers.

Application field of ACPL-P341-500E

The ACPL-P341-500E is a compact optically isolated gate driver device designed for driving IGBTs and MOSFETs. It offers a fast and reliable solution to the difficult problem of driving power switches in applications such as DC motor control, home appliances, automation and process control, inverters and power supplies. Furthermore, it provides a low-profile, low-cost, high-efficiency, compact and easy-to-use solution for a variety of industrial and automotive.

Working principle of ACPL-P341-500E

The ACPL-P341-500E is a typical optically isolated gate driver. The internal circuit diagram of the optical isolator is composed of three elements: a LED, a photodiode and an optical coupling device. The working principle is based on optical isolation. When the input current flows through the LED, the LED emits light, and the light is absorbed by the photodiode. At the same time, the photodiode generates a voltage signal. This signal controls the voltage at the output end of the optical coupling device, thus driving the controllable power device.

The ACPL-P341-500E is mainly composed of three parts: the main driving circuit, the LED and the isolated photodiode. The main driving circuit provides the signal of trigger switching, transistor commutation and brake, which can control the switching of transistor, thus the desired working state of IGBT or MOSFET transistors is obtained. The LED part is mainly responsible for light output when the input current flows through it, so as to excite the current flowing through the diode part. The photodiode part can convert the optical signal into an electrical signal, and the size of the electrical signal is proportional to the optical signal intensity.

Advantage of ACPL-P341-500E

The ACPL-P341-500E has many advantages. First of all, it has a low total harmonic distortion of only 0.2%, which can achieve a soft start and a fast response speed. Moreover, due to the effective isolation provided by the optocoupler, it provides very reliable electrical insulation between the control and load sides, and the rise and fall times are decreased to 4µs. In addition, its operating temperature can range from -40 to +125 °C. In order to protect the device efficiently, it is also equipped with an over-voltage protection circuit.

Conclusion

The ACPL-P341-500E is an optically-isolated gate driver developed by Avago Technologies that is mainly used for driving IGBTs and MOSFETs. It has wide application fields in DC motor control, home appliances, automation and process control, inverters and power supplies as well as low-profile, low-cost, high-efficiency, compact and easy-to-use features. Its working principle is based on maximum light emission produced by an LED when an electric current running through it, and the photodiode converts the optical signal into an electrical signal proportionally. Furthermore, its advantages include low total harmonic distortion, electrical isolation and over-voltage protection.