GaN Systems and ON Semiconductor make available high-speed half-bridge evaluation board

GaN Systems Inc of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (a fabless developer of gallium nitride-based power switching semiconductors for power conversion and control applications) and ON Semiconductor of Phoenix, AZ, USA – which supplies power management, analog, sensors, logic, timing, connectivity, discrete, system-on-chip (SoC) and custom devices – have announced the availability of a high-speed, half-bridge GaN daughter board using GaN Systems’ 650V, 30A GaN E-HEMTs and ON Semiconductor’s NCP51820 high-speed gate driver evaluation board.

The evaluation board has been developed for existing and new PCB designs and allows designers to evaluate GaN in existing half-bridge or full-bridge power supplies. The kit has a reduced component count in an ultra-small 25mm x 25mm layout, minimizing PCB board space. Features, which include 1+MHz operation and a 200V/ns CMTI rating, provide increased power density and improved performance with fast-switching GaN power transistors.

With benefits said to include significant reductions in power losses, weight, size (up to 80% in layout size) and system costs (up to 60% BOM cost savings), suitable applications include AC-DC adapters, data-center power supplies, photovoltaic (PV) inverters, energy storage systems, and bridgeless totem pole topologies. The solution is one of many upcoming GaN-based power system solutions that both companies are developing.

“The expansion of the GaN components ecosystem – including driver ICs such as our NCP51820 – removes design barriers and takes advantage of the numerous benefits that GaN E-HEMTs provide,” says ON Semiconductor’s director of marketing Ryan Zahn. “With rising interest and adoption of GaN, we look forward to continued collaboration with GaN Systems in supporting and meeting the new power requirements taking place across many industries,” he adds.

“The new evaluation board developed in collaboration with ON Semiconductor makes it easier and more cost effective to design with GaN – opening the door for smaller, lighter and more efficient power converters,” says Charles Bailley, senior director, Worldwide Business Development at GaN Systems. “This collaboration signals the innovation not only happening with end-products designed with GaN but in components, design tools and reference designs that optimize the use of GaN.”

Tags: GaN Systems E-mode GaN FETs Power electronics

Visit: www.gansystems.com

Visit: www.onsemi.com