The L6384 is one of a family of gate driver ICs for half bridge configurations. All of the devices in the series have some common functionality, including the gate drive for two power MOS or IGBT, level shift circuitry, input logic, and the bootstrap driver. The devices are built on the BCD off-line technology that has a 600V rating for the high voltage devices. However the technology is designed in such a way that only the level shift transistors and the bootstrap driver are actually high voltage devices. All other transistors in the IC work from voltages less than 20V. The flip-flop in the level shift circuit and the HSG driver are configured in a region of the IC that may float up to 600V even though the transistors in the circuit are actually low voltage devices. This is important since higher voltage devices require more silicon area. The ICs are low cost and may be cost effective even on systems powered from low voltages, in fact they have been used in automotive applications that are only 12V typical. All of the devices in the family have an under voltage shut down that is sensing the Vcc voltage and will inhibit the outputs if the voltage drops below the preset threshold. The bootstrap driver is a unique feature of the ST devices. Other devices on the market require an external diode to charge the bootstrap capacitor. With the BCD off-line technology this functionality can be integrated into the IC. Actually the function is implemented with a high voltage MOS device used in a kind of synchronous rectification configuration. The gate of this device is controlled so that it is turned on when the lower gate driver is also on. This configuration works well for most applications and can replace the external diode in most cases. The IN input of the L6384 controls if the high side or low side gate driver is on. Internally the L6384 has a dead time circuit that prevents the two outputs from being turned on at the same time and protects against cross conduction. A resistor between the DT/Sd pin can sets the dead time. This pin may also be used as a logic shutdown by taking the pin to ground.