8 February 2017

Navitas delivers first GaN power ICs

Navitas Semiconductor Inc of El Segundo, CA, USA has announced the immediate availability (to qualified partners) of production-qualified iDrive gallium nitride (GaN) power ICs (in 5mm x 6mm QFN packages) using its proprietary 'AllGaN' technology.

The NV6131, NV6105 and NV6115 offer a high-efficiency 650V, 160mΩ power field-effect transistor (FET) with increasing integration of digital and analog circuits, leading to what is claimed to be groundbreaking speed, energy efficiency, power density and reduced system cost.

GaN can enable up to 100x higher frequencies than silicon. However, driving, controlling and protecting such high-speed power devices has been an industry challenge that has limited adoption, says Navitas. By integrating these critical digital and analog circuits monolithically with the GaN power device, these system-level problems have been eliminated, it is claimed. Navitas says that its GaN Power ICs with iDrive provide optimized and robust performance for any application. A 10-100x increase in system operating frequency is combined with higher efficiencies to enable up to a 5x increase in power densities and 20% lower system costs, it is reckoned.

"By integrating all gate-drive-related circuitry, virtually all frequency-related power losses are eliminated, opening the door to significant frequency and efficiency gains," says CEO Gene Sheridan. "We anticipate a major upgrade cycle in mobile fast chargers, thin TVs, high-efficiency data centers, LED lighting, solar and electric vehicle markets as this new high-speed revolution in power electronics gets underway," he adds.

"The Center for Power Electronics Systems (CPES) at Virginia Tech has been pioneering the advancement of high-frequency power systems for over three decades," says Dr Fred Lee, the university's distinguished and globally recognized professor. "The invention of GaN power ICs represents a major industry breakthrough and is a critical ingredient to make high-speed, high-efficiency power systems a reality," he comments.

"GaN has the potential to displace a large percentage of the $15bn power silicon market, but adoption has been partially limited by the system challenges in cost-effectively driving and controlling the GaN power device at high speeds," notes power semiconductor market researcher Dr Hong Lin at Yole Développement. "The integration of logic, analog and power in a GaN power IC solves this remaining roadblock and positions GaN to realize its full potential."

Navitas will demonstrate the new NV61xx series in a suite at the Applied Power Electronics Conference & Exposition (APEC 2017) in Tampa, FL, USA (26-30 March).

See related items:

Navitas' CEO presenting AllGaN power ICs at WiPDA 2016

Navitas launches first GaN power ICs

Tags: GaN Power electronics

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