Power density of industrial and automotive devices is on the rise.
TI Unveils Four GaN FET Solutions That Offer Lower Costs Than SiC
GaN, a high-speed switching technology, improves PFC efficiency.


Vehicle electrification is transforming the automotive industry. Consumers now demand electric vehicles (EVs) that can charge quickly and drive long distances. Reducing the size and weight of systems without compromising performance is a current challenge for vehicle designers.

Additionally, reducing power loss and reducing board space have become critical requirements in today's hyperscale and enterprise computing platforms, as well as industrial AC/DC power supply applications such as rectifiers for 5G communications.

Texas Instruments (TI) held an online press conference on the 12th and announced that it is adding a family of gallium nitride (GaN) field effect transistors (FETs) suitable for automotive and industrial applications to its high-voltage power management product portfolio.

Designers can develop solutions that double the power density, achieve 99% efficiency, and reduce the magnetic component size by up to 59% compared to existing solutions with the LMG3422R050, LMG3425R050, LMG3422R030, and LMG3425R030 GaN FETs, which integrate TI's 2.2MHz high-speed switching gate drivers.

“TI has developed FETs that offer cost and supply chain advantages over silicon carbide (SiC) materials using our patented GaN materials and gallium nitrite-on-silicon (GaN-on-Si) material processing technology,” said Steve Tom, GaN product line manager for TI’s High Voltage Power Business Unit, who hosted the meeting.

T“Designers need proven power management systems to extend the life and ensure reliable operation in industrial and automotive applications,” said Steve Lambouses, vice president of the High Voltage Power Business Unit at TI. “With over 40 million hours of reliability testing and 5 GWh of power conversion testing, TI GaN technology delivers the reliability designers in every market demand.”

As electronic systems shrink in size, their internal components must also shrink and be placed more closely together. The new TI GaN FET family integrates high-speed switching drivers, internal protection, and temperature sensing, reducing the board space required for power management. This allows designers to reduce the number of components required by discrete solutions by more than ten.

◇ Increased PFC efficiency through GaN high-speed switching advantages

GaN enables high-speed switching, enabling the design of smaller, lighter, and more efficient power systems. However, high-speed switching results in significant power loss. To address this, TI GaN FETs incorporate TI's ideal diode mode.

For example, using ideal diode mode for power factor correction (PFC) can reduce third-quadrant losses by up to 66% compared to discrete GaN and SiC MOSFETs. Additionally, it reduces firmware complexity and development time by eliminating the need for adaptive dead-time control.

“TI GaN FET packaging simplifies thermal design by offering 23 percent lower thermal impedance compared to competitive packaging,” said Tom. “It also provides thermal design flexibility by allowing customers to choose between bottom- or top-cooled packages, regardless of the application.”

“Digital temperature sensing enables power management, enabling designers to optimize system thermal performance under a variety of load and operating conditions,” he added.

Four pre-production 600-V GaN FETs are available now on TI.com. Devices suffixed with Q1 are AEC-Q100-compliant automotive grade. All are available in a 12 × 12-mm QFN package, with pricing starting at US$8.34 in 1,000-unit quantities. Related evaluation modules are also available on TI.com, starting at US$199.

Full-scale mass production is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2021.