Texas Instruments Inc (TI) has introduced what it claims is the first 80V, 10A integrated gallium nitride (GaN) field-effect transistor (FET) power-stage prototype, consisting of a high-frequency driver and two GaN FETs in a half-bridge configuration in an easy-to-design quad flat no-leads (QFN) package.
The new LMG5200 GaN FET power stage is expected to help to accelerate market adoption of next-generation GaN power-conversion solutions that provide increased power density and efficiency in space-constrained, high-frequency industrial and telecom applications (delivering 25% lower power losses compared with silicon-based designs, enabling single-stage conversion). The power stage is being highlighted as part of a 48V digital power demonstration in booth 1001 at the 30th IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC 2015) in Charlotte, NC (16-18 March).
"One of the biggest barriers to GaN-based power design has been the uncertainties around driving GaN FETs and the resulting parasitics due to packaging and design layout," says Steve Lambouses, VP of TI's High-Voltage Power Solutions business. "We help power designers realize the full power potential of GaN technology by offering them a complete, reliable power-conversion ecosystem of optimized integrated modules, drivers and high-frequency controllers in advanced, easy-to-design packaging," he adds.
Typically, designers who use GaN FETs that switch at high frequencies must be careful with board layout to avoid ringing and electromagnetic interference (EMI). The LMG5200 dual 80V power-stage prototype eases this issue while increasing power-stage efficiency by reducing packaging parasitic inductances in the critical gate-drive loop, says TI. The LMG5200 features multichip packaging technology and is optimized to support power-conversion topologies with frequencies up to 5MHz.
The 6mm by 8mm QFN package requires no underfill, addressing high-voltage spacing concerns, improving board manufacturability and reducing cost. TI says that the reduced footprint solidifies the value of GaN technology and shoud help to increase adoption of GaN power designs in many new applications, ranging from new high-frequency wireless charging applications to 48V telecom and industrial designs.
In addition to ordering the LMG5200 evaluation module (EVM), designers can get started faster using PSpice and TINA-TI models for the LMG5200 to simulate the performance and switching frequency advantages of the technology.
Prototype samples of the GaN power stage are available from the TI Store. The LMG5200 is priced at $50 each with a maximum purchase of 10 units. The LMG5200 EVM is available for $299.
