Infineon Technologies has recently expanded its gallium nitride (GaN) portfolio with the launch of its new family of high-voltage discrete components, the CoolGaN™ Transistors 650 V G5. The new series is designed for a wide range of switching power supplies (SMPS) applications in consumer electronics and industry, including USB-C adapters and chargers, DC power rectifiers for lighting, television, data center and communications, as well as renewable energy and appliance motor drives.
It has been reported that the new GaN devices are able to withstand higher voltage and current densities due to their high electron mobility and breakdown field strength, achieving higher power density. This means that GaN devices offer significant advantages in applications that require high power output, such as power electronics converters, radar systems, and more. In addition, GaN devices can switch more than 10 times faster than traditional silicon-based power devices, allowing them to operate at higher frequencies and reduce switching losses. This makes GaN devices excellent in high-frequency applications such as 5G communications and satellite communications.
Infineon's latest generation of the CoolGaN family is a drop-in replacement for the CoolGaN Transistors 600 V G1 and enables rapid redesign of existing platforms. To ensure superior switching performance in key applications, the new devices provide key metrics that have been significantly improved.
Compared to Infineon's previous products and major competitors, the CoolGaN 650 V G5 transistor offers a 50 percent reduction in output capacitance energy (Eoss) and a 60 percent increase in drain-source charge (Qoss), also known as gate-to-source charge, which is the amount of charge that accumulates between the gate and the source as the gate voltage rises from 0 V to a specific drive voltage. This charge is mainly used to overcome the gate-source capacitance inside the MOSFET and helps to establish the electric field of the control channel. In simple terms, drain-source charge is the charge that the gate needs to accumulate during the turn-on process of the MOSFET to form an electric field sufficient to control the flow of electrons in the semiconductor material, so that current can flow from the drain to the source. The amount of drain-source charge directly affects the switching speed of the MOSFET, as it determines the time it takes for the gate voltage to reach the threshold voltage.
Figure: Infineon introduces a new generation of discrete GaN power devices
In addition to the increase in drain-source charge, the gate charge (Qg) is also reduced by 60%. Combined, these improvements provide superior efficiency for both soft and hard switching applications. Combined, these features enable superior efficiency in both soft- and hard-switching applications, reducing power losses by 20 to 60 percent compared to conventional silicon technologies, depending on the specific application.
These performance benefits enable the new devices to operate at high frequencies and minimize power losses, resulting in higher power densities. The 650 V G5 CoolGaN transistor enables SMPS applications to achieve smaller, lighter designs or extend the output power range in the same form factor. The high voltage transistors are available in a variety of RDS(on) package combinations, including ThinPAK 5×6, DFN 8×8, TOLL and TOLT surface mount packages, with ten RDS(on) ratings. All products are manufactured on high-performance 8-inch production lines in Villach, Austria and Kulim, Malaysia. Infineon plans to move its CoolGaN product line to 12-inch production in the future, which will increase its CoolGaN production capacity and ensure a stable supply chain in the GaN power market, which is expected to reach $2 billion by 2029.
It is reported that the CoolGaN 650 V G5 transistor will be exhibited at electronica 2024 in Munich.
