Aspencore Guide to Gallium Nitride

Book excerpt: As silicon reaches its theoretical performance limits for power electronics, industry is shifting toward wide-bandgap materials like Gallium Nitride (GaN), whose properties provide clear benefits in power converters for consumer and industrial electronics. In over 150 pages covering the technology, its applications, markets and future potential, this book delves into GaN technology and its importance for power electronics professionals engaged with its implementation in power devices. The properties of GaN, such as low leakage current, significantly reduced power losses, higher power density and the ability to tolerate higher operating temperatures, all from a device smaller than its silicon-only equivalent, provide design advantages allowing previously unimaginable application performance. As an alternative to silicon, GaN can provide clear benefits in power converters for consumer and industrial electronics; chargers for wireless devices, including 5G; driver circuits for motor control; and power switches in automotive and space applications.The book also explores why GaN-based devices hold the key to addressing the energy efficiency agenda, a key strategic initiative in increasingly power-reliant industries such as data centers, electric vehicles, and renewable energy systems. Highly efficient residential and commercial energy storage systems using GaN technology will enable distribution, local storage, and on-demand access to renewable energy. Continued progress in the battery market will lead to declining battery costs and the development of smaller batteries that pair with GaN technology-based converters and inverters. Thermal management is critical in power electronics, and high efficiency in higher-power systems is always a focus. With GaN, a 50% reduction in losses can be achieved, reducing the costs and area required to manage heat. The book delves into GaN's electrical characteristics and how these can be exploited in power devices. There are also chapters that cross into the key applications for GaN devices for several markets such as space, automotive, audio, motor control and data centers. Each chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the subject matter for anyone who wants to stay on the leading edge of power electronics.