With high-frequency

low power dissipation and high-efficiency characteristics

Gallium nitride (GaN) power devices are of significant benefit in designing high-speed motor drives

as they improve performance and reduce weight. However

due to the cascode structure

coupling with the parasitics in gate driver and power circuits

power converters based on cascode GaN are prone to overshoot and oscillate on switching waveforms

which may lead to serious EMC problems

or even device breakdown. The complicated structure of cascode GaN device makes the gate driver design comparatively complex. An analytical model of the switching process considering gate driver parameters is proposed in this article. The influence of gate driver parameters on switching behavior is investigated from the perspective of switching speed

waveform overshoot

and power loss. Trade-offs among overshoot

switching speed

and power loss are discussed; guidelines to design gate driver parameters are given.