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The Journey

• Why Gallium Nitride?

• Breaking down the barriers

• What the future might hold

EPC - The Leader in eGaNTM FETs | October 2010 | EDS 3www.epc-co.com 3

• GaN offers superior performance compared with both silicon and silicon carbide

– RDSON x Area

– Very high switching speed

– High Voltage Capability at low RDS(ON)

– Body Diode has no QRR

Why Gallium Nitride?


• Device-grade gallium nitride can be grown on top of silicon wafers and processed in standard CMOS facilities

• GaN-on-silicon offers the advantage of self-isolation and therefore efficient power devices can now be made monolithically

• EPC has developed proprietary technology for the first enhancement-mode devices (eGaNTM) to be offered on the market!

Why Gallium Nitride?


Device Construction


Flip Chip Assembly


Breaking Down the Barriers

Does it enable significant new capabilities?

Is it VERY cost effective to the user?

Is it reliable?

Is it easy to use?




Is it reliable?

Is it easy to use?



eGaN FETs are Higher Performance:

Figure of Merit


• The Conduction Figure of Merit is the best predictor of relative device

performance when the transistor is used in a rectifier function

• The relative performance between eGaN and silicon is more

pronounced as the rated voltage increases

eGaN FETs are Higher Performance:Conduction Figure of Merit


• The Switching Figure of Merit is the best predictor of relative device

performance in hard switched converters

• The relative performance between eGaN and silicon is even greater

than for conduction FOM

eGaN FETs are Higher PerformanceSwitching Figure of Merit


Converter Efficiency

12V-1V

24V-1V

48V-1V

EPC1001 at 250 kHz

Reduction of light load efficiency and high conversion voltage efficiency

is mostly due to the limitations of the commercial driver IC


48V – 1V Conversion (1MHz)

10 ns per division

GaN switching speed is limited by the driver circuit

20 nS


Gigahertz Capability

9.9 GHz





Is it reliable?

Is it easy to use?


The on-resistance

(RDS(ON)) for a given

device area is a key

determinant of

product cost.

The elimination of

the package further

reduces cost

Smaller Die Sizes

200V GaN Device

(25 milli Ohms)

200V Silicon Device

(30 milli Ohms)

eGaN FETs are cost effective

EPC - The Leader in eGaNTM FETs | October 2010 | EDS 17www.epc-co.com

Starting Material

Epi Growth

Wafer Fab

Test

Assembly

OVERALL

2010 2015

same same

higher

same

same

lower

same

lower

same

lower

lowerhigher

17

eGaN Transistors are cost effective




Is it reliable?

Is it easy to use?



0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000

Igss

@5

V (

uA

)

Stress Hours

HTGB 6V at 125C EPC1001 Igss

Devices are well behaved after HTRB,

eGaN FETs are reliable

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

2

0 200 400 600 800 1000

No

rmal

ize

d R

dso

n

Stress Cycles

TC -40C/+125C EPC1012 Rdson

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

1 10 100 1000

Idss

@2

00

V (

uA

)

Stress Hours

THB 85C/85RH 100Vds EPC1010 Idss

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000

Idss

@20

0V (u

A)

Stress Hours

HTRB 150C EPC1010 Idss

and Temp Cycling Stress.HTGB, THB,


Power Supply Life Tests

48V-1V Converters show no change in efficiency after 1200 hours of operation




Is it reliable?

Is it easy to use?



It’s just like a MOSFET

eGaN FETs are easy to use

except for TWO things

(1)

The high frequency capability makes circuits

using GaN transistors very sensitive to layout

(2)

GaN transistors are more sensitive to

gate rupture than power MOSFETs

EPC - The Leader in eGaNTM FETs | October 2010 | EDS 23www.epc-co.comEPC - The Leader in eGaNTM FETs | October 2010 | EDS 23www.epc-co.com 23

eGaN Characteristics

Fully enhanced at 5V

No Negative

Temp Coef

region like

MOSFETs

R DS(ON) rise lower

than MOSFET for

similar temp rise.

VTH essentially FLAT


What the Future Holds

Driver On Board



Full-Bridge with Driver


Three Phase Monolithic Motor Drive


Hybrid POL


• Many new applications are enabled due to

eGaN’s quantum leap in frequency capability

• After over one year on the market, eGaN has

started to replace MOSFETs in many high

performance applications

• Basic product reliability has been established

• The largest impediment to the rapid adoption of

eGaN is the need for a low-cost, high-

performance gate drive.

Conclusions


Documents

EPC - The Leader in eGaNTMTM FETs | October 2010 | …epc-co.com/epc/Portals/0/epc/documents/articles/IsthisEndfor...EPC - The Leader in eGaNTMTM FETs | October 2010 | EDS 27 •Many