GaN Transistors Are Here

Faster, Smaller, and More Efficient...

Public Information
Why GaN?
Excellent Characteristics for a Power Device
• Superior breakdown capability
• Higher electron density and speed
• Higher operating temperature

Semiconductor Silicon Silicon Galliu

Characteristic Unit Carbide m
Nitride
Bandgap eV 1.1 3.26 3.49
Electron Mobility cm²/Vs 1500 700 2000
Peak Electron Velocity x10⁷ cm/s 1.0 2.0 2.1
Critical Electric Field MV/cm 0.3 3.0 3.0
Thermal Conductivity W/cm·K 1.5 4.5 >1.5
Relative Dielectric Constant ετ 11.8 10.0 9.0
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The GaN HEMT
What is it?

• HEMT = High Electron Mobility Transistor

• Conducts through two-dimensional electron gas
• Lateral current conduction

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600 V GaN Cascode Advantages
• Ease of drive
– Traditional gate drive voltages can be used
– Characteristics set by low voltage transistor
• Gate voltage rating
• Threshold voltage
• Gate charge (~10x better than super-junction)

• Reliability
– Passed JEDEC industrial specifications
– Passed long-term application-level testing

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First 600 V GaN Products
Product Specifications
Part Rdson (mΩ) Qg @4.5 V Co(er) @0 to Qrr (µC)
(nC) 480 V (pF)
NTP8G202N 290 6.2 36 0.029
NTP8G206N 150 6.2 56 0.054

• Products qualified and released!

• Products at other specifications and in other

packages are in development.

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1st Gen 600V GaN-on-Si HEMT Compared to HV MOSFET
• 1st generation GaN is already superior to silicon
• GaN still has ample potential to improve
For similar on-resistance, 4x >20x
GaN’s performance is: Better Better Similar Better
On Energy Reverse
resistance Gate charge Output related Coss recovery FOM1A FOM1B FOM2
Parameters (W) (nC) charge (nC) (pF) charge (mC)

Symbol Rds, on Qg Qoss Coer Qrr Ron*Qg Ron*Qoss Ron*Qrr

GaN Gen1 0.180 6.2 53 56 0.054 1.1 9.5 0.01

SJ Si GenA 0.199 32 86 69 5.5 6.4 17 1.1

SJ Si GenB 0.190 63 128 56 6.9 11 24 1.3

SJ Si GenC 0.199 20 126 29 6 4.0 25 1.2

Low Qrr SJ 0.190 95 77 83 1 18 15 0.19

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GaN Applications
Ideal Fit for Efficient Circuit Topologies
• Efficient power conversion favors soft switching
circuit topologies that recover energy.
– Phase-Shifted Full-Bridge
– Half-Bridge or FB LLC
– Synchronous Boost
– Others

• GaN offers perfectly suited performance to

accelerate this trend.

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System Development for GaN
Critical Factors

• Drive and power loop inductances - Minimize

component spacing
• Surge protection devices must be used
• Ensure thermal performance by appropriate heat
sinking
• Parallelization can be done by matching gate drive
and power loop impedances
• Separate grounds for power and signal
components, connected at a single point

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Power Factor Correction
• Traditional CCM Boost Circuit vs Totem Pole Circuit
• GaN transistors enable more efficient topology
230 Vac Input 110 Vac Input

Efficiency Impovement
by Topology Change

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Advantages of GaN
• Benefits from GaN at higher frequency
– Increased power density
– Reduced system size and weight
• System cost parity with better performance
• Component cost will reduce with volume to
become lowest cost wide band gap technology

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Expertise in GaN Power Electronics...
Poised to provide customers a TOTAL GaN solution.

• GaN Transistors – ON Semiconductor and Transphorm

collaborating to enable adoption in power systems
• Packaging – Advanced packaging technology to combine
with characteristics of more ideal switches
• Drivers – High voltage drivers now, more coming for GaN
• Controllers – Applying strong market presence to GaN
• Reference Designs – Applying system expertise to GaN
solutions for customers, not just products

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