“The physical limitations of silicon-based power devices have been predicted for a long time. In fields where high-efficiency and high-power density designs are required, it is no longer possible to achieve the expected performance with silicon. So the industry is naturally turning to gallium nitride (GaN).”

Dabo Corporation Technology Division Managing Director Yong-gyu Cho spoke about gallium nitride (GaN) technology, pointing out the potential and limitations of GaN as a next-generation power device technology that will overcome the limitations of silicon.

He explains that over the past 10 years, silicon-based RGBT and MOSFET devices have reached their limits in terms of improving switching loss and conduction loss, and attempts to improve switching speed for miniaturization and high-frequency power devices have also faced physical limitations.

“There is a dilemma that as switching speed increases, loss also increases. This cannot be solved with existing methods. “So, the transition to wide bandgap (WBG) technology has become inevitable.”

Infineon’s CoolGaN ™ technology is a representative commercial platform that responds to this technological transition. It dramatically reduces switching losses by reducing parasitic capacitance and minimizing gate charge through a unique P-GaN gate structure and optimized epitaxy design. As a result, it can achieve up to 98% power conversion efficiency and more than 3x power density compared to conventional ones.

Vice President Cho also emphasized key checkpoints for maximizing the advantages of GaN from a designer's perspective.

“It’s not just about changing the components. It’s about optimizing the entire system, including dealing with common-mode noise, designing gate drivers for high-frequency environments, and minimizing current loops within the PCB.”

Additionally, Infineon supports these challenging designs with a diverse portfolio of GaN devices, along with demo boards, evaluation platforms and design guidelines. Another strength is that it can respond to various fields such as electric vehicles, servers, industrial inverters, and communication equipment through various current capacities in the 600V/650V class and application-specific packages such as TO-247 and TOLL.

The June 24 webinar held at e4ds.com will also introduce circuit design cases using actual demo boards. Attendees will be able to learn practical content on ▲gate driver design methods ▲high-frequency optimized PCB layout strategies ▲measurement environment setup methods for noise suppression, etc.

Finally, Executive Director Cho Yong-gyu emphasized that GaN technology is a completely different world from existing silicon, and that a new design approach is needed, not a simple replacement. However, from an engineer’s perspective, change is a very scary part. However, there are already sufficiently verified structures and practical data, and if you try based on this, anyone will be able to adapt quickly, said Executive Director Cho Yong-gyu.

Meanwhile, Infineon is further strengthening its leadership in the high-efficiency, compact power solution market through CoolGaN™ technology and plans to expand support for domestic designers.