Progress of GaN Transistors for Automotive Applications
Conference: PCIM Europe 2015 - International Exhibition and Conference for Power Electronics, Intelligent Motion, Renewable Energy and Energy Management
05/19/2015 - 05/20/2015 at Nürnberg, Deutschland
Proceedings: PCIM Europe 2015
Pages: 8Language: englishTyp: PDF
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Authors:
Wu, Y.-F.; Smith, K. (Transphorm Inc., 75 Castilian Drive, Goleta, CA 93117, USA)
Abstract:
Continuous progress has been made since the success in JEDEC qualification of 600V-rated GaN-on-Si devices in 2013. Systematic voltage-accelerated off-state stress tests and temperature-accelerated on-state stress tests reveal an intrinsic Mean Time to Failure (MTTF) 8x107 and 3x107 hours at the rated voltage and rated temperature respectively. Application evaluation with the GaN-based bridge topology in hard-switched operation shows superior benefit over Si-based power devices in multiple dimensions including circuit simplicity, enhanced conversion efficiencies and much higher operation frequencies. Analysis as a front end for an EV on-board charger configurable to bi-direction power flow show >99% device efficiency at 100 kHz even at an ambient cooling fluid temperature of 105 °C. These advances indicate near term readiness for GaN in automotive applications starting from auxiliary power to finally the main drive.