VisIC’s Direct Drive D-Mode gallium nitride (D3GaN) devices integrate a high-density lateral GaN power FET into a normally-off product with low RDS(On) (22 mΩ) and highly efficient, ultra-fast switching performance. Direct drive allows the user to toggle the GaN gate with low switching energy while removing the design and performance issues of pre-driving the gate using a MOSFET; the GaN die is driven directly using an off-the-shelf 15 V MOSFET driver. The e-mode drive architecture also provides larger margins for threshold voltage for easier gate driving with less constraints for power supply designers. The typical threshold voltage is 8 V, and the QG and ID for this device are 41 nC and 65 A respectively.
The D3GaN device comes in a fully isolated 15 x 18 x 3 mm SMD package, specified at 3.5 kV isolation, with top cooling and a Kelvin connection. Safety features are integrated for system startup and shutdown but do not affect the switching performance of the device during operation. These devices are suitable for applications that include solar inverters, AC-DC power supplies, AC motors, battery chargers, laser drivers, and automotive.
VisIC produces a half-bridge evaluation platform for testing the switching performance of a pair of these 650 V, 22 mΩ D³GaN power transistors, with separate PWM control signals for the high and low side. This board can be easily configured into buck or boost SMPS topologies for up to 500 V switching voltage (at up to 1 MHz) and 6 kW output power, depending on the cooling solution used. There is an optional current sense for double pulse measurements, and the board also includes isolated 15 V auxiliary power supplies, gate drivers, and an adjustable dead time control.
If you would like to evaluate VisIC’s technology for use in a commercial project, whether using this board or a reference design, fill out the form below, and ipXchange will put you in touch to discuss your requirements.
