1200V GaN FET for 99% efficiency

GaN pioneer Transphorm is to demonstrate a 1200V gallium nitride (GaN) FET that enables a switching efficiency of 99% later this year.

The 1200V GaN device delivers greater than 99 percent efficiency and performs well against a leading SiC MOSFET of similar on-resistance, says the company. The development of the device was partially funded by the ARPA-E CIRCUITS programme, aiming at electric vehicle mobility and infrastructure power systems as well as industrial and renewable energy systems.

The 1200V FETs are expected to be available for sampling in 2023.

“1200V GaN has been discussed within the industry for some time, but often perceived as rather difficult to achieve,” said Dr. Isik Kizilyalli, Associate Director for Technology at the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E). “As part of the ARPA-E CIRCUITS program led by the Illinois Institute of Technology, the Transphorm team has demonstrated an important breakthrough, showcasing GaN performance at the 1200-volt device node with high efficiency 800-volt switching.”

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5月份的Power展览会上的演示将提供使用硬切换的同步增压半桥拓扑进行的设备配置和性能分析的详细信息。TO-247包装中最初的1200V GAN设备的RDS（ON）为70毫米和尺度，可降低电阻和更高的功率水平。早期结果显示泄漏较低，故障电压大于1400伏。

“Building on Transphorm’s unique vertically integrated capability, our engineers have yet again pushed the limits of what’s possible with GaN,” said Umesh Mishra, CTO and Co-founder, Transphorm. “We aim to bring to market an ultra-high voltage, reliable GaN product that will give customers more choice when developing power systems. Our 1200-volt GaN FET will enable excellent performance with greater designability and cost effectiveness than SiC solutions. We see this as an important milestone for the GaN power electronics industry.”