Design of bootstrap power supply for half-bridge circuits using snubber energy regeneration

Abstract

This paper deals with a design of a bootstrap power supply using snubber energy regeneration, which is used to power a high-side gate driver of a half-bridge circuit. In the proposed circuit, the energy stored in the low-side snubber capacitor is transferred to the high-side bootstrap capacitor without any magnetic components. Thus, the power dissipation in the RCD snubber can be effectively reduced. The operation principle and design method of the proposed circuit are presented. The experimental results are also provided to show the validity of the proposed circuit.