GaN converts 5kW at 98.5% efficiency

APEI and GaN Systems have developed a 1MHz gallium nitride power dc-dc boost converter delivering 5kW at 98.5% efficiency.

GaN power transistors are lightning fast, have low on-resistance, and are been proposed for converters working between 600 and 1,200V.

“Testing demonstrated turn-on and turn-off transitions of 8.25 and 3.72ns, respectively,” said the firm.

The PSU is intended to promote GaN transistors for hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles.

“Other key applications for GaN include solar inverters and industrial motor drives,” said GaN Systems.

The Canadian fabless transistor company’s technology is GaN HEMT (high electron mobility transistor) with an unusual ‘chess-board’ arrangement of source and drain connections branded ‘island technology’.

It has just announced that it will be using RFMD’s GaN-on-SiC foundry, revealing that is has been using RFMD for device development over the last two years.

“We have been able to achieve the higher currents facilitated by our island design with the higher voltage operation and higher power dissipation afforded by the excellent electrically insulating and thermal conduction of the SiC starting wafer,” said GaN Systems CTO John Roberts, adding that the island layout allows the transistors to be made on the foundry’s RF HEMT based processes, obviating the need for new foundry investment.

APEI is also know as Arkansas Power Electronics International, and specialises in high density power supplies and motor drives based on GaN HEMTs and SiC transistors.

The 5kW inverter is on show at the APEC conference in Long Beach this week, and the GaN Systems will also be at PCIM in Nuremberg May 14-16th.