GaN Talk Blog

GaN is going mainstream in power electronics for AI, robotics, and cars. At APEC 2026, EPC's Nick Cataldo discusses GaN system-level value and cost advantages.

Abstract: Join us to examine how GaN is reshaping power electronics. GaN is not just a substitute for MOSFET; it is an enabler that allows engineers to rethink the architectures once limited by system constraints. In the automotive sector particularly, specifically within 48V architectures, GaN technology drives up to 15% improvement in fuel efficiency, and balances between reliability, compatibility, and overall cost.

High-performance AI clusters and humanoid robots share a critical engineering challenge - namely the need for immense current within compact, thermally-constrained enclosures. At traditional low voltages, power distribution has hit a physical ceiling, where excessive I2R losses and connector bulk create unsustainable thermal stress. To solve this, industry architectures are converging on a 48V nominal power distribution backbone (peaking at 58V).

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Part 1 of this article series on gallium nitride (GaN) fundamentals described crystal structures and the formation of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG), along with material figures of merit and the transition from depletion-mode to enhancement-mode GaN HEMTs.

The silicon power MOSFET has been the most important device for changing low- and medium-voltage power for more than forty years. It was the best choice for everything from consumer electronics and telecom infrastructure to industrial power supplies and automotive systems because it was easy to use, had a well-established manufacturing ecosystem, and its performance was easy to predict. Architectural improvements that have been made over time, such as moving from planar to trench and superjunction designs, have steadily lowered on-resistance while keeping voltage capability.

AI’s rapid rise and the widespread rollout of data centers needed to sustain its growth are fundamentally changing the way data centers are designed—not only in terms of compute density and cooling requirements, but also in how electrical power is delivered. Racks that once drew tens of kilowatts are now approaching hundreds of kilowatts, with megawatt-scale AI compute clusters no longer a distant target. In this context, traditional power architectures based on 415/480 VAC distribution and low-voltage DC buses are becoming increasingly inefficient, bulky, and expensive to scale.

Humanoid robots are designed to mimic human movement and are seeing strong market growth across a wide variety of applications. Motor control forms a key design aspect in robotics, and in this article, we summarize the basic power architecture and the requirements for the power electronics that form the core components, along with examples of solutions available from Efficient Power Conversion Corporation (EPC).

Power Electronics News
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When wide-bandgap semiconductors entered the market, the areas in which they operated were pretty well defined. SiC would challenge silicon at voltages above 600V, and GaN would compete with silicon in applications from around 100V to 600V.

Power Systems Design
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Alex Lidow, CEO and co-founder of Efficient Power Conversion (EPC), talked with Ally Winning, Editor at Power Systems Design, about EPC's strategic agreement with Renesas in a recent interview. The interview looked at why the deal was made, how important it is to have a second source, and how certain eGaN devices help set de facto standards in the low-voltage GaN market.