White Hot
by Robert V. White
I
n 1980, I started my first job in
the power supply group of a
major computer company. I was
assigned to design a power supply
for a desktop computer. I used bipo-
lar transistors that switched at the
outrageous frequency of 50 kHz. At
the time, power metal-oxide-semi-
conductor field-effect transistors
(MOSFETs) were an expensive, ex-
otic curiosity. By 1985, however,
MOSFETs had essentially replaced
bipolar transistors in new off-line
power supply designs.
When I consider the current gal-
lium nitride (GaN) switching tran-
sistors, it feels like the situation in
1980 with bipolar transistors and
MOSFETs. Today, MOSFETs are
well established and readily avail-
able, with high performance at a low
cost. GaN switching transistors are
still thought of by most power supply
engineers as expensive, exotic cu-
riosities. I believe that just as MOS-
FETs displaced bipolar transistors,
we will see GaN switching devices
displace MOSFETs in most switch-
ing power supply applications in the
coming years. This displacement
will not happen overnight, and GaN
transistors face technical and com-
mercial challenges that must be over-
come before being widely adopted.
The first technical challenge is
that the GaN high electron mobility
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPEL.2014.2301642
Date of publication: 11 March 2014
56 IEEE Power Electronics Magazine
GaN: The Challenges Ahead
transistors (HEMTs) being developed Another challenge awaiting power
for switching applications are inher- supply engineers who want to use GaN
ently normally on depletion-mode is also one of the biggest benefitsthe
devices. The processing needed to speed of the device. GaN HEMTs are
make normally off enhancement- capable of switching many times fast-
mode GaN HEMTs has been known er than comparably rated MOSETs.
for years. The challenge is that the For example, one manufacturer has
gates of these devices are not the reported switching 600 V in 12 ns.
high-impedance, 20-V-rated capaci- This gives great promise for higher
tors found in MOSFETs. GaN HEMT switching frequencies and reduced
gates are more re- switching loss. How-
sistive, requiring a ever, when switching
minimumcurrent at these speeds, par-
to keep them on, The GaN enhancement asiticinductances
and they are voltage mode transistors thatwereignored
sensitive. The GaN whenusingMOS -
on the market today
enhancement-mode FETs now become
have a strict
transistors on the seriousobstacles.
market today have requirement to keep There is a lot of good
a strict requirement the applied voltage at work being done to
to keep the applied 5 V or lower. understand and op-
voltage at 5 V or timize circuit board
lower. This requires design for GaN tran-
new driver circuits sistors, but this will
and ICs with which power supply en- be another learning curve for power
gineers must become familiar. supply engineers.
It is possible to make a cascode Likewise, with high speeds, test
connection of a depletion-mode GaN equipment becomes a major concern.
HEMT with a low-voltage silicon Todays power supply labs are gener-
MOSFET to create what is, effec- ally not equipped with the high-speed
tively, an enhancement-mode device. probes and oscilloscopes needed to
Such devices are being sampled into make accurate measurements of the
the market today. The advantage is switching characteristics. Many com-
that the gate drive is now the same as panies will have to make substantial
for MOSFETs, making it easier to use. capital and equipment investments if
The disadvantage is the need to pack- they want to take full advantage of all
age two switching devices in a leaded that GaN transistors have to offer.
multichip package. It is not clear yet if
this will be a cost-effective solution. (continued on p. 54)
z March 2014
White Hot (continued from p. 56)
One aspect of GaN HEMTs that
is both a significant advantage and
a significant disadvantage is the
lack of a body diode. We have spent
years mastering circuits that either
minimize the effect of a body diode
or take advantage of it. With GaN
HEMTs, we will need very high-
speed adaptive drivers or very fast
diodes in parallel to minimize losses.
The big commercial challenge is
a general lack of availability. Yes, it
is possible to buy some GaN HEMTs
from distributors today, but the selec-
tion is limited. In particular, the 600-V
devices we need for off-line power sup-
plies are few and far between.
Untitled-1 1
54 IEEE Power Electronics Magazine z March 2014
Also limiting widespread adop-
tion is the lack of standardized de-
vice ratings and characteristics
and that means there are no real
second sources for any of the de-
vices on the market today. This may
be the biggest challenge to the wide-
spread adoption of GaN devices. No
major manufacturer is going to use
a GaN transistor in a high-volume
applicationuntilinterchangeable
devices are available from multiple
manufacturers.
It may seem that all of these chal-
lenges will keep GaN transistors as
exotic curiosities. Well, the situation
looked equally bleak for MOSFETs
6/3/10 4:36:05 PM
in 1980. Just as we learned how to
overcome the challenges of using
MOSFETs and just as manufacturers
converged on standardized devices,
I am confident the same will happen
with GaN. Todays MOSFETs are very
good, and MOSFET manufacturers
will continue to do everything they
can to remain competitive.
But GaN transistors, due to their
high speed and low capacitance,
can switch at megahertz frequen-
cies with high efficiency. GaN device
manufacturers are already showing
impressive results with power factor
correction circuits, dcdc converters
for computer applications, switching
power amplifiers for audio, and
high-speed dcdc converters
for envelope tracking in radio
frequency applications. I think
that while GaN has challenges
to overcome, in a few years, GaN
transistors will be the device of
choice for switching power sup-
ply design.
About the Author
Robert V. White (bob.white@
ieee.org) has over 30 years of
industry experience as a power
electronics engineer. He has
worked in product design, sys-
tems and applications engineer-
ing, and technology development.
He has been an active volunteer
with the IEEE Power Electronics
Society, serving several years on
the Administrative Committee,
two terms as technical vice presi-
dent, and as a Chapter chair. He
earned a B.S.E.E. degree from the
Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
nology and an M.S.E.E. degree
from Worcester Polytechnic Insti-
tute; he is currently pursuing a
Ph.D. degree in power electronics
at the University of Colorado
Boulder. Presently, he is the chief
engineer of Embedded Power
Labs, a power electronics con-
sulting company. He is a Fellow
of the IEEE.