GaN FETs integrate the driver, protection, and active power management

Texas Instruments (TI) has claimed the first automotive gallium nitride (GaN) field-effect transistors (FETs) with integrated driver, protection, and active power management for automotive and industrial applications. Expanding its high-voltage GaN FET power management portfolio, the new 650-V and 600-V GaN FETs deliver twice the power density, achieve 99% efficiency, and reduce the size of power magnetics by 59% compared to existing solutions, said TI.

With a fast-switching, 2.2-MHz integrated gate driver, the GaN FETs also integrate an internal protection and temperature sensing, which helps reduce board space in power management designs. This integration, together with the high power density of TI’s proprietary GaN technology, enables engineers to eliminate more than 10 components typically required for discrete solutions, said TI. In addition, each of the new 30-mΩ FETs can support up to 4 kW of power conversion when applied in a half-bridge configuration.

TI said the automotive GaN FETs can help reduce the size of electric vehicle (EV) onboard chargers and DC/DC converters by as much as 50% compared to existing silicon or silicon carbide (SiC) solutions, offering electric vehicles an extended battery range, increased system reliability, and lower cost.

For industrial applications, the new devices enable high efficiency and power density in AC/DC power-delivery applications where low losses and reduced board space are important, said TI. Applications include hyperscale and enterprise computing platforms as well as 5G telecom rectifiers.

“GaN offers the advantage of fast switching, which enables smaller, lighter and more efficient power systems. Historically, the trade-off with gaining fast switching capability is higher power losses,” said TI. “To avoid this trade-off, the new GaN FETs feature TI’s ideal diode mode to reduce power losses. For example, in PFCs, ideal diode mode reduces third-quadrant losses by up to 66% compared to discrete GaN and SiC metal oxide silicon FETs (MOSFETs). Ideal diode mode also eliminates the need for adaptive dead-time control, reducing firmware complexity and development time.”

The GaN FETs also offer 23% lower thermal impedance than the nearest competitive packaging, enabling the use of smaller heat sinks. The integrated digital temperature reporting enables active power management for optimized system thermal performance under varying loads and operating conditions. Bottom- or top-side cooled packages are available.

Pre-production versions of the four new industrial-grade, 600-V GaN FETs (12 x 12 mm, QFN package) are available now only on TI.com. Volume production is expected in Q1 2021. Evaluation modules also are available on TI.com, starting at $199.

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Pre-production versions of the LMG3522R030-Q1 and LMG3525R030-Q1 650-V automotive GaN FETs and evaluation modules are expected to be available for purchase on TI.com in Q1 2021. Engineering samples are available upon request at  .