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GAN (Gallium Nitride) Fet Discussion

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asdf44

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I want to spark another discussion to try and get people's experiences and impressions on GAN's right now. My understanding of the market is this:

Transphorm
  • Only 600/650V, only cascode (silicon fet in series with higher voltage depletion GAN)
  • Cascode means gate drive is really driving a silicon fet -> easy
  • Standard packages (TO-220, TO-247, PQFN)
  • Standard gate drive + standard packages make this the easiest to try
  • Available on digikey

GAN Systems
  • 100V/650V enhancement mode
  • Custom but straightforward packages, top side or PCB cooling (10W is realistic)
  • Medium difficulty gate drive - wants 6V max is 10V
  • Available on mouser

EPC
  • 20-200V with a couple 200-300V devices, enhancement mode
  • Tiny specialized packages, only PCB based cooling possible (probably ~5W or less)
  • Tricky gate drive, wants 5V, but absolute max is 6V
  • Perhaps the most established?
  • Dozens of parts available on digikey

TI
  • One 80V part (half bridge) and one 600V part
  • Integrated approach, gate drive, regulator and enable fet is all in the same package
  • 80V part available on digikey, 600V part is in 'preview'

On Semi
  • Rebrands transphorm?

Infineon
  • Has some parts, keeps them secret for now


Any other comments thoughts or impressions?
Anyone using these or know companies who are?
Which brand and why?
What they being used for?
 

I have lots of experience with EPC devices for research projects. Their specs don't overlap much with Transphorm and GAN systems parts, and they're going for different applications, so a direct comparison is difficult.

Gate drive isn't too hard for the EPC devices so long as you follow their recommended layouts. That means using at least four layers, and small drill sizes. But the packages are not difficult to work with, I've had them assembled a couple times with no problems.

Thermal management is a bit tricky for EPC devices, since you can't withstand too much force without cracking the dies (especially if the dies aren't perfectly level). If you use a soft TIM and some spacers under the heatsink then they can dissipate as much power as other packages (per unit area, anyways).
 
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    asdf44

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Thanks for the comments. Would you have any concerns putting them in a production design (reliability, availability, end-of-life concerns)?

The 100V Gan Systems devices do go head to head with EPC at that voltage. I just did a quick comparison and for the same Rdson EPC and Gan systems were within about 30% or less on most specs (input/output C etc). Though EPC covers that space with many more voltage and Rdson choices.
 

GaN is starting to be widely promoted for DC DC converters (see EPC's YouTube channel) and now with all the Wireless Power Transfer thing, is taking advantage of that as well.
Because GaN allows higher switching frequency in converters, new ferrite materials are starting to being developed as well (50% less core loss is claimed compared to standard high frequnecy ferrite at "Next generation ferrite material for SiC & GaN applications ").
Tricky gate drive, wants 5V, but absolute max is 6V
GaN gate drivers implement a clamp feature apart from the usual UVLO one.
 
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    asdf44

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You could actually drive the EPC FETs from a 3.3V source
with only a trivial Ron penalty.

My EPC half bridge driver used an internal LDO (times two)
to ensure that the high side and low side devices saw the
same domain voltage, so consistent timing (shoot-through
control, not amenable to a lot of feedback at 80V common
mode offset, need fixed timing). And of course, to stay
well away from the 6V limit.

EPC is playing games with how they rate current on the
newer products. I called them out on it and got the
response that the rated current is pulsed peak, not
continuous.Caveat emptor. The current they rate is
simply not reliable (one solder ball, a hundred amps?
Not in this universe, unless you are force-cooled to
room temp. My regular customers aren't so lucky).

For hand built stuff the GaN Systems devices will be
a lot easier / more familiar to handle. But for ultimate
compaction, "no package" wins out.

Intersil / Renesas has just announced some co-packaged
EPC FETs and drivers (low side only as I make it out).
However the press release is aimed at the HiRel market
and Intersil is the kings of rape-the-customer pricing
in that segment. Maybe there's a plastic version that
is not insane, but I have not seen that announced. I'd
expect more in this vein from other vendors.
 
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    asdf44

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Thanks for the comments. Would you have any concerns putting them in a production design
If the application would benefit significantly from them, sure.
(reliability, availability, end-of-life concerns)?
I'm not worried about these, though obviously I wouldn't use any devices in engineering status for production (they actually sell engineering status devices via digikey, which is pretty neat IMO.)

The 100V Gan Systems devices do go head to head with EPC at that voltage. I just did a quick comparison and for the same Rdson EPC and Gan systems were within about 30% or less on most specs (input/output C etc). Though EPC covers that space with many more voltage and Rdson choices.
Really? Which devices are you comparing? I'm comparing EPC2045 to GS61008P and seeing equal Cout, but less Cgtotal and Cgd for the EPC2045. They're both referred to as "7mohm" devices but EPC refers to the maximum Rdson (typical is 5.6mohm), while GaN system refers to the typical Rdson.

- - - Updated - - -

EPC is playing games with how they rate current on the
newer products. I called them out on it and got the
response that the rated current is pulsed peak, not
continuous.Caveat emptor. The current they rate is
simply not reliable (one solder ball, a hundred amps?
Not in this universe, unless you are force-cooled to
room temp. My regular customers aren't so lucky).
I always see two ratings in their datasheets, one for pulsed (usually 300us) and one for continuous. For some applications (Lidar, for example) such a pulse rating is useful, and I don't see anything strange about it.
 
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    asdf44

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