Current Trends for GaN on Si Power Devices for Industrial Applications

Abstract:
Emerging technology using WBG (Wide Band Gap) devices based on Silicon Carbide (SiC), Gallium Nitride (GaN) or Diamond challenge the actual Silicon devices in 600 voltage range showing superior performances in terms low switching and conduction losses, higher frequency and higher temperature operations. In the last few years several companies revealed the developments of GaN on silicon based devices for power electronics applications and some started mass production for devices in the range of 200-600 V . This paper presents two mainstream GaN devices technologies: GaN HEMT(High Electron mobility Transistor) cascode and GaN Gate Injection Transistor (GIT). These devices are available in mass production for power conversion applications. The operating principle, gate driving requirement, packaging and experimental results are presented for both showing their performances and limits.