GaN Talk Blog

By: Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio, Contributing Editor at Data Centre Digest

Artificial intelligence workloads are rapidly reshaping data center power architectures. Conventional server infrastructure was not originally designed to sustain today’s extreme compute density requirements. As a result, modern facilities increasingly resemble “AI factories,” where maximizing computational throughput per rack is a primary objective.

Recent advancements in gallium nitride (GaN) power devices demonstrate a substantial expansion of their operational range into low-voltage applications under 40 V. Silicon MOSFETs have historically dominated this voltage range due to their good conduction performance, well-understood manufacturing processes, and proven reliability.

PCIM Mesago
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A partnership with Renesas, which offers high-voltage GaN, suggests an opportunity for EPC to broaden its low- and medium-voltage portfolio.

Gallium Nitride (GaN)—a wideband gap semiconductor alongside silicon carbide (SiC)—has emerged as a superior alternative to silicon in next-generation power electronics. Yole—a renowned market research firm—forecasts $ 3 billion in 2030 for the GaN power market, with a remarkable compound growth of 42% between 2024 and 2030, as a result of OEM uptake, consumer maturity, and NVIDIA-supported AI datacenter business expansion.

Power Electronic News
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This article orginally appeared on EE Times.

The power MOSFET market is large and well established, and is expected to reach a value of around $14 billion by 2027. It is generally divided into three voltage segments: below 40 V, 40–200 V, and above 600 V. The segment below 200 V accounts for roughly 75% of the total market. It is in this segment that most of the target applications of Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) are concentrated, including AI servers, 48-V power converters, robotics, and autonomous machines. This makes it a crucial battleground for the adoption of GaN technology. By focusing on higher efficiency, increased power density, and simpler system design, GaN technology is increasingly positioning itself as a viable replacement for silicon in modern power conversion systems.

In an interview with Judith Cheng, Editor at Large at MakerPROTW, Alex Lidow, co-founder and CEO of Efficient Power Conversion (EPC), described the company’s seventh-generation gallium nitride (GaN) technology, now in mass production, and its implications for low-voltage applications that have traditionally been dominated by silicon MOSFETs. With devices such as the 40 V EPC2366 already in volume production, EPC is positioning GaN as a mainstream option for 40 V and below - a market that exceeds the size of the 100 V segment where GaN first gained traction.

Michael A. de Rooij and Alejandro .P. Pozo

This article orginally appeared on EEPower.

Artificial intelligence is now in vogue - and its influence will only continue to grow. Today, the real challenge lies in delivering the energy demands at optimal efficiency levels. NVIDIA recently released a white paper¹ showing that an 800‑volt DC architecture combined with energy storage solutions represents an alternative approach to meeting the needs of modern and future AI server infrastructures. These systems will require power delivery in megawatts, not just kilowatts. The enabling technology is GaN. In collaboration with NVIDIA, EPC has developed a cost-effective, low-profile 800 VDC‑to‑12.5 VDC converter² capable of delivering up to 6 kW. The design leverages EPC’s latest 150 V and 40 V GaN device^3,4, fitting within a footprint of 5,000 mm² and a total thickness of only 8 mm. The design exemplifies how GaN FETs can achieve a combination of high efficiency and high power-density while keeping costs low, aiming to achieve 97% efficiency at full load.

At the Bodo Power Systems Wide Band Gap Forum in Monaco, EPC founder and CEO Alex Lidow set the tone for the GaN discussion, highlighting the significant advantage of gallium nitride (GaN) by drawing on fifty years of experience in power semiconductors. Speaking alongside experts from Texas Instruments, Navitas, Infineon, Toshiba, Volkswagen, and Mitsubishi, he positioned GaN as the superior choice for low-voltage, high-frequency systems—from AI data centers and humanoid robots to autonomous vehicles and LiDAR. While SiC remains the go-to for high voltages, Lidow highlighted GaN as the cost-effective technology already reshaping point-of-load power—and much more.

As artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and space systems redefine what’s possible in power electronics, gallium nitride (GaN) technology continues to lead the transformation. In a recent interview with Electronic Product Design & Test (EPDT), Dr. Alex Lidow, CEO and co-founder of EPC, shared his perspective on how GaN is reshaping the semiconductor landscape — and what’s next for this fast-evolving technology.

48 V is being adopted in many applications, including AI systems, data centers, and mild hybrid electric vehicles. However, the conventional 12 V ecosystem is still dominant, so a high power density 12 V to 48 V boost converter is required. The fast-switching speed and low R_DS(on) of eGaN FETs can help address this challenge. In this post, the design of a 12 V to 48 V, 500 W DC-DC power module using eGaN^® FETs directly driven by eGaN FET compatible ISL81807 controller IC from Renesas in the simple and low-cost synchronous boost topology is evaluated.