Infineon has expanded its family of 40V-class bidirectional GaN switches aimed at miniaturizing power circuits in portable electronic devices. The new products focus on reducing PCB area and the number of components by replacing the existing back-to-back silicon MOSFET configuration with a single component.

Infineon Technologies announced on May 26 in Seoul that it has added the IGK048B041S and IGK120B041S to its CoolGaN BDS 40V G3 bidirectional switch family. According to the company, the new products reduce the PCB footprint by up to 82% and cut the number of components by half.

This product is primarily targeted at consumer devices with limited circuit board space, such as smartphones, laptops, and wearables. In mobile devices, as battery capacity increases, fast charging capabilities, and USB-C-based power structures become more widespread, there is a growing demand for more precise control of power paths.

While configuring conventional silicon MOSFETs in a back-to-back configuration enables reverse current blocking, it entails the burden of increased circuit area and the number of components. On the other hand, CoolGaN BDS is designed to block voltage and current in both directions with a single device, so it can be applied to USB overvoltage protection, load switching, and power multiplexing circuits.

The new products are compatible with 5V gate driving and are available in WLCSP chip-scale packages. The IGK048B041S provides an RDD(on) of 4.2 mΩ in a 2.1 × 2.1 mm² package, and the IGK120B041S provides an RDD(on) of 9 mΩ in a 1.7 × 1.2 mm² package.

Switching characteristics are also linked to design efficiency. The company explained that the new product's gate charge is about 40% lower than that of competing products, reducing switching losses, and that the drain-drain leakage current is more than 85% lower, contributing to the reduction of heat generation and standby losses.

Infineon has been expanding its power semiconductor portfolio by announcing more than 40 new GaN products over the past year. It is also pursuing 300mm wafer-based GaN production and supplying initial samples to customers. The 300mm production system is expected to influence the expansion of GaN power semiconductor supply and the securing of cost competitiveness in the future.