How2 Get The Most Out Of GaN Power Transistors

Focus:

In order to speed their adoption, EPC's enhancement-mode GaN (eGaN) on silicon transistors were designed with ease of use in mind. In other words, they were designed so they could replace silicon power MOSFETs without radically changing the design of the surrounding power stage circuitry. This article explains why eGaN devices are easy to use, describing how they operate and their similarities and differences versus silicon power MOSFETs. With that as background, the article explains the gate-drive requirements for eGaN transistors, and presents suitable discrete and IC-based gate-driver designs for use with eGaN devices. Although there are no eGaN specific gate driver ICs at the time of this writing, there are gate-driver ICs for silicon power MOSFETs that can be adapted for driving eGaN devices. Some of these ICs are listed in this article.

What you’ll learn:

• How to understand the similarities and differences between silicon power MOSFETs and enhancement-mode GaN power transistors
• How to design drive circuits for EPC's enhancement-mode GaN power transistors

Notes:

This is the first of three articles in How2Power Today addressing the application of EPC's enhancement-mode GaN on silicon transistors in power supply applications. For more, see http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/06/prweb4121934.htm.

View the Source

Author & Publication:

Johan Strydom, Efficient Power Conversion, El Segundo, Calif., How2Power Today, Jun 29 2010

This article summary appears
in the HOW2POWER Design Guide.

The Design Guide offers
organized access to
hundreds of articles
on dozens of power conversion
and power management topics.

The Design Guide search results
include exclusive summaries
and accurate "how to" analysis
to help you make faster,
more informed decisions.

Search
for more articles