GaN Presented as Being Competitive with SiC

May 17, 2023

At PCIM, GaN Systems CEO Jim Witham discusses high power density of GaN devices in automotive, data-center, and audio applications.

Alix Paultre

Related To: Electronic Design

Check out our PCIM 2023 coverage.

GaN Systems showcased its GaN solutions at PCIM Europe 2023 in Nuremberg, Germany, demonstrating advances in power density and efficiency across automotive and other markets. Highlights included the new GaN-based 11-kW/800-V On-Board Charger (OBC) reference design, which has up to a 36% higher power density and 15% lower bill-of-materials cost compared to SiC transistor designs, according to the company.

Additional features include an ac-dc stage peak efficiency of greater than 99% and a dc-dc stage peak efficiency of greater than 98.5%. It combines a three-level flying capacitor topology for a bridgeless totem-pole PFC structure and a dual active bridge. The GaN transistors reduce the transistor voltage stress to half.

GaN Systems also showcased additional automotive OBC, dc-dc, and traction implementations; fast-charging GaN chargers and adapters from Samsung, Dell, Harman, Philips, and Razer; a Wi-Fi speaker from Mark Levinson, founder of Daniel Hertz; data-center power supplies from less than 50 to 100 W/in.³; and innovations in e-mobility, LED lighting, and wireless power transfer. CEO Jim Witham was present and explained several items of interest in this video.

Alix Paultre | Editor-at-Large, Microwaves & RF

Alix is Editor-at-Large for Microwaves & RF.

An Army veteran, Alix Paultre was a signals intelligence soldier on the East/West German border in the early ‘80s, and eventually wound up helping launch and run a publication on consumer electronics for the U.S. military stationed in Europe. Alix first began in this industry in 1998 at Electronic Products magazine, and since then has worked for a variety of publications, most recently as Editor-in-Chief of Power Systems Design.

Alix currently lives in Wiesbaden, Germany.