element14 now shipping Nexperia Power GaN FETS for reduced power loss in EVs, 5G and IoT

element14, today announce availability of Nexperia’s new to market, innovative Power Gallium Nitride (GaN) FET range. GaN FET products deliver improved density and efficient power usage in a small form factor, enabling the development of efficient systems at a lower cost, and providing the potential to transform power performance in electric vehicles, 5G communications, IoT and more.  This innovative range provides real solutions to design engineers as increased legislation, and the growing need to reduce Co2 emissions, drive a shift to more efficient power conversion and increased electrification.  

GaN technology overcomes many of the limitations of existing technologies, such as silicon based IGBTs and SiC, to deliver direct and indirect performance benefits to a whole range of power conversion applications.  Within electric vehicles, GaN technology directly reduces power losses that can impact the range of a vehicle.  More efficient power conversion also reduces the need for cooling systems to dissipate generated heat, reducing the vehicle’s weight and system complexity, in turn leading to a longer operating range or the same range with a smaller battery.  Power GaN FETs are also well positioned for applications in data centers, telecom infrastructures, and industrial applications.

GaN FETs deliver superior performance in solutions such as hard switching for AC-DC Totem pole PFC applications, LLC phase shift full-bridge (resonant or fixed frequency) for soft-switching applications, All DC-AC inverter topologies  and AC-AC matrix converters using bidirectional switches. 

Key benefits include:

› Easy gate drive, low RDS(on), fast switching

› Excellent body diode (Low Vf), low Qrr

› High ruggedness

› Low dynamic RDS(on)

› Stable switching

› Rugged gate bounce immunity (Vth ~ 4 V)

Lee Turner, Global Head of Semiconductors and SBC, Farnell and element14 said: “Nexperia is renowned for its extensive portfolio of innovative semiconductor products and we are pleased to further support our customers with the addition of the power GaN FETs to the element14 range.  GaN technology is at the cutting edge of efficient power design and these new products will be a key component to innovative IoT, automotive and communication designs of the future.”

To support customers seeking to adopt GaN FET technology, Farnell and the element14 community is hosting a webinar with a Ilian Bonov, GaN International Product Marketing Engineer, from Nexperia, to provide a ‘deep dive’ into this new technology.  “Designing High-Efficiency and Robust Industrial Power Supplies with Nexperia GaN FETs” will take place on  September 16, 2020 at 2:00 PM BST.   The webinar will overview the features of Nexperia cascode technology, benefits in hard and soft switching topologies and include a 4kW Totem Pole PFC Case Study.