As the revolution of renewable energy as well as transportation electrification progresses, the need for residential energy storage systems is increasing. A high efficiency DC-to-DC converter is usually required to exchange energy generated from renewable sources, such as solar panels, with a battery. The fast-switching speed and low R_DS(on) of gallium nitride (GaN) FETs can help save energy by reducing power consumption inside the DC-to-DC converter. This article shows how to design a high efficiency 100 – 250 V to 40 - 60 V DC-to-DC converter.

Power Electronics Europe
May, 2023
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汽车电子在过去30年内经历了几个时代的演变。 从主要采用机械或发动机驱动系统的纯内燃机 (ICE)，到添加电力动力的轻度混合动力 (MHEV)，再到全电池电动汽车 (BEV)应用。 在这三个时代中，用于转换和分配电力的架构甚至基本半导体元件都发生了重大的变化。 本文讨论了这个进化过程和对将来进化的方向做出了一些推测。

Power Systems Design
2023年8月
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In this article, Renesas Electronics explains how using a discreet GaN based power supply in the ISLVERSALDEMO2Z reference design for the core offers several advantages for power management in space avionics systems.

Power Electronics News
July, 2023
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低压 GaN FET 可实现更小、冷却要求最小化和效率更高的解决方案

与采用传统的硅基功率 MOSFET的应用相比，低压 GaN FET（即 100 V）可实现更小，冷却要求最小化和效率更高的解决方案。 本文讨论了氮化镓器件如何应对动态性能需要重复且可靠的表征的挑战。 定制氮化镓夹具和测试板的机械和电气设计仔细、周全，就可以克服其中许多挑战，使您能够在设计功率转换器时，自信地使用这些新型宽能隙器件。

Power Electronics News
2023年7月
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Transient voltage overshoot is a common phenomenon in GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) under high slew rate switching conditions. The dynamic parametric instability under such stress is a critical concern for GaN applications. This work, for the first time, accurately characterized the evolution of dynamic on-resistance (R_DS(on)) in GaN HEMTs under repetitive voltage overshoot up to billions of switching cycles. The dynamic R_DS(on) increase was found to be the dominant device degradation under overvoltage switching. Such findings were obtained from a high-frequency, repetitive, unclamped inductive switching (UIS) test with active temperature control and accurate in-situ R_DS(on) monitoring. A physics-based model was proposed to correlate the dynamic R_DS(on) drift with the peak overvoltage, and a good agreement with experimental data was achieved. This model was further used to project the lifetime of GaN HEMTs. For 100 V rated GaN HEMTs switched under 100 kHz and 120 V spikes, the model projects less than 10% dynamic R_DS(on) shift over 25 years of continuous operation. This work addresses the major concerns of overvoltage switching reliability of GaN HEMTs and provides new insights of the electron trapping mechanism.

IEEE Xplore
Ruizhe Zhang, Ricardo Garcia, Robert Strittmatter, Yuhao zhang, Shengke Zhange
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事实证明，15 V ~ 350 V 氮化镓异质结场效应功率晶体管在功率转换、电机驱动和激光雷达等应用中，无论是在效率、尺寸、速度和成本方面都比硅器件更具优势 。氮化镓集成电路为许多高频应用提供了多方面的系统级优势。 氮化镓集成电路才刚刚发展，其优势肯定会随着其技术发展而不断增强。

Bodo’s Power Systems
2023年6月
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宜普电源转换公司(EPC)是增强型氮化镓 (GaN) FET 和 IC产品的领导者，在纽伦堡举行的 PCIM Europe 2023展会上分享了关于氮化镓技术的发展和其应用的演示。 我们与该公司的联合创始人兼首席执行官 Alex Lidow 就电力电子行业和氮化镓技术对行业的影响进行了深度交流。

Electronic Design
2023年5月
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In this episode of Spirit: Behind the Screen, Spirit Electronics CEO Marti McCurdy chats with EPC’s CEO Alex Lidow and Marketing Director Renee Yawger about the progress of GaN. They discuss GaN’s performance under high radiation as well as the extensive testing, failure modes and device lifespan detailed in EPC’s Phase 15 reliability report. With the full potential of GaN still to be explored and new EPC products releasing frequently, including new half-bridge drivers, low-side drivers and full power stage, GaN is especially useful in New Space and commercial space applications.

Spirit: Behind the Screen
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Monolithic GaN integration has matured to the point that complex circuits such as a half bridge gate driver with various features can now be realized. This article will cover DC-to-DC and BLDC motor drive application examples that benefit from monolithic half-bridge integration.

Power Electronics News
May, 2023
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Modern solar panels are demanding increasingly higher power density and longer operating lifetimes. Solar applications including power optimizers and panels with built-in microinverters are becoming the prevailing trend for an increasing number of solar customers, where low voltage GaN power devices (V_DS < 200 V) are extensively used.

Bodo’s Power Systems
May, 2023
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Gallium nitride (GaN) transistors and ICs have the best attributes to satisfy BLDC inverter needs. The superior switching capability of GaN helps to remove dead time and increase PWM frequency to obtain unmatched sinusoidal voltage and current waveforms for smoother, silent operation with higher system efficiency

Power Systems Design
May, 2023
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This article discusses the advantages of GaN-based power stages and introduces a sample device from EPC, implemented in a half-bridge topology. It explains how to use associated development kits to quickly get started on a project. In the process, designers will learn how to measure the parameters of a BLDC motor and operate it in sensorless field orientation control (FOC) with minimal programming effort using Microchip Technology’s motorBench Development Suite.

Digi-Key Electronics
April, 2023
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With Electronic Power Steering (EPS), the hydraulic system is replaced with an electric motor that aids the driver only when needed. Its digital assistance control can be modified online to adapt to driving conditions. There are, however, several design constraints to consider. One is that the driver does not want to lack the haptic feedback from the tires, especially when a vehicle is large, such as a truck. Other constraints are determined by safety regulations, particularly for automatic guided vehicles. These constraints require adopting an efficient, accurate and redundant system. Gallium nitride technology helps the designers in all these areas.

Power Electronics News
March, 2023
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Since the launch of GaN-on-Si enhancement mode power transistors in March 2010 there has been a slow but monotonic shift towards adoption and replacement of silicon-based power MOSFETs. Initial adoption came from risk-taker visionaries in applications such as lidar, high-end audio amplifiers, robots, vehicle headlamps, and high-performance DC-DC converters. For the expansion of GaN for power conversion to get beyond the early adopters, a more user-friendly format than the WLCP needed to be developed. This format, however, needed to preserve the key attributes of small size, low RDS(on), high speed, excellent thermal conductivity, and low cost. In other words, the best package would be the least amount of package technically possible. Enter the PQFN…

Bodo’s Power Systems
March, 2023
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With the increase in government mandates to combat climate change, automakers are moving quickly to leverage new technology to respond by switching from the internal combustion engine to electric-drive vehicles. This article presents the design of a 2 kW, two-phase 48 V/12 V bi-directional converter using GaN FETs that achieves 96% efficiency and is targeted for the 48 V mild hybrid system.

PSD North America
March, 2023
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An exploration of a GaN-based design of a 2 kW 48V/12V bi-directional power module for 48 V mild hybrid electric vehicles.

Electronics Today
January, 2023
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Richtek, the global leading analog IC design company has teamed up with EPC, the leading provider of gallium nitride (GaN)-based power management technology to launch a new reference design for fast charging applications, achieving high power density and up to 98% efficiency.

DigiTimes
January, 2023
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Power-conversion technologies are experiencing the first tectonic shift since the move from bipolar to MOS. That shift, of course, is due to the viral adoption of wide-bandgap power devices. At this point, GaN is more than a specialty technology; it is a broad-scale replacement for silicon MOSFETs in applications ranging from 30 V up to 650 V — a multibillion-dollar market.

Power Electronics News
December, 2022
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Despite the continued progress in traditional transistor scaling, the semiconductor industry has reached an inflection point. The demand for faster, smaller, smarter, and more energy-efficient chips calls for new design and manufacturing paradigms. This eBook includes contributions from technology and market experts Malcolm Penn, Future Horizons; Tim Burgess and Bernd Westhoff, Renesas Electronics; Jean-Christophe Eloy, Yole Group; Luc Van den hove, imec; Ezgi Dogmus, Poshun Chiu, and Taha Ayari, Yole Intelligence; Alex Lidow, Efficient Power Conversion; Victor Veliadis, PowerAmerica; Richard Collins and Yu-Han Chang, IDTechEx; and Jean-René Lèquepeys, CEA-Leti.

EETimes
December, 2022
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Growing computational power and miniaturization of electronics in computing and data centers is increasingly putting pressure on 48-V power delivery and conversion systems. High-efficiency and high-power–density converters enable a reduction in power losses at the system level while allowing smaller form factors. In this context, LLC resonant topologies combined with GaN technology succeed to deliver outstanding performance, as it has been demonstrated with multiple examples. This article will show the key design parameters and components to achieve beyond 4 kW/in3 of power density in a 48-V to 12-V LLC converter using eGaN^® FETs.

Power Electronics News
December, 2022
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