APPARATUS FOR DRIVING A SWITCHING DEVICE AND METHOD OF USING THE SAME

Apparatus comprising a driver circuit (9) for applying control signals to a control terminal (6) of a switching device (4) when activated. The switching device (4) is activatable to drive a load (7) load in an operating mode when a control signal above a threshold voltage is applied to the control terminal (6). A start-up circuit (20) is coupled to the control terminal (6) and comprises an energy store (11) and a switch (12) operable to discharge the energy store (11) to deliver a start-up voltage above the threshold to the control terminal (6). As such, the switching device (4) can be activated during a delay period before the driver circuit (9) can generate a control signal above the threshold voltage after being activated.