News: Microelectronics
2 February 2021
Navitas wins ‘Power Product of the Year’ award
Navitas Semiconductor Inc of El Segundo, CA, USA has been awarded ASPENCORE’s Electronic Products’ ‘Power Product of the Year’ 2020. Navitas’ GaN Power IC NV612x series was selected as the winner based on the chip’s advanced efficiency, power density and performance-leading innovations in gallium nitride (GaN), as applied in power electronics (from mobile fast chargers, to data centers, solar inverters and EV/eMobility applications).
Founded in 2014, Navitas introduced what it claimed to be the first commercial gallium nitride (GaN) power ICs. The firm says that its proprietary ‘AllGaN’ process design kit (PDK) monolithically integrates GaN power field-effect transistors (FETs) with GaN analog and logic drive, control and protection circuits, enabling faster charging, higher power density and greater energy savings.
Now in its 45th year, the Product of the Year awards recognize “outstanding products that represent a significant advancement in a technology or its application, an exceptionally innovative design, a substantial achievement in price/performance, improvements in design performance, and a potential for new product designs/opportunities”. ASPENCORE’s Electronic Products’ editorial staff selected GaN Power ICs as the winner for advancing power electronics due to “unparalleled capabilities in power density, size and performance”.
The GaNFast NV612x-series GaN-based power semiconductor technology is said to run up to 20x faster than silicon and enable 3x more power or 3x faster charging in half the size and weight. The NV612x-series delivers a 10-15°C reduction in temperature with an enlarged thermal interface to the PCB and a direct thermal and electrical connection to the system ground, enabling what is claimed to be the world’s highest power density and passing all thermal specifications and agency approvals, resulting in dramatic improvements in energy savings and power density.
While competing solutions require additional, complex external driving and protection components, the proprietary monolithic integration of GaN power and drive plus protection and control means that the new GaNFast parts still deliver the simplest, smallest, fastest and now cooler performance, claims Navitas.
“As proof of market adoption, the NV612x-series is in the high-volume production of smartphone and laptop fast-chargers for major brands including Lenovo, Oppo and Dell,” notes Navitas’ co-founder & CEO Gene Sheridan. “With 13 million shipped and zero failures, GaNFast is a high-performance, high-reliability power platform.”
Navitas has penetrated mobile fast-chargers and is now expanding into other markets including data centers, 5G base stations, solar inverters, energy storage and eMobility applications. The firm predicts that GaN can save 2.7Gt of CO2 emissions by 2050, equivalent to a year’s output from 700 coal power plants.
Navitas wins Semiconductor Design Innovation Excellence Award
