IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - June 2023 - 85

integration in smaller packages were some of the
trends being revealed by the GaN vendors. Speaking of
high voltage, power integrations unveiled a 900 V GaN
extension to the company's InnoSwitch3 family of flyback
switcher ICs. The new ICs, which feature the company's
proprietary PowiGaN technology, deliver up to
100 W with better than 93% efficiency, eliminating the
need for heat sinks and streamlining design of spacechallenged
applications. InnoSwitch3 designs also offer
exceptional light-load efficiency making them ideal for
providing auxiliary power in electric vehicles (EVs)
during low-power sleep modes. The AEC-Q100-qualified
InnoSwitch3-AQ family is particularly suitable for EVs
based on 400 V bus systems where the 900 V PowiGaN
switch provides more power and increased design margin.
The new 900 V InnoSwitch3-EP and InnoSwitch3AQ
off-line CV/CC flyback switcher
ICs employ
synchronous rectification, a valley switching discontinuous
conduction mode (DCM) and continuous conduction
mode (CCM) flyback controller. FluxLink
communication technology enables the IC package to
bridge the isolation barrier, optimizing efficiency and
eliminating the need for optocouplers.
Flaunting its portfolio of JEDEC and AEC-Q101 qualified
650 V and 900 V GaN FETs, with 1200 V devices in
development, Transphorm unveiled a 3 kW evaluation
inverter board with Microchip's digital signal controller
and the company's 650 V 50 mΩ SuperGaN FET in a TO-247
package. It is intended for developing vehicle-to-grid (V2G)
charging system, solar or photovoltaic (PV) inverters, uninterruptible
power supplies (UPSes), and other high voltage
power applications.
Other vendors displaying their latest GaN devices
include Cambridge GaN Devices (CGD), Efficient Power
Conversion Corp. (EPC), GaN Systems, Innoscience
Technologies, Navitas Semiconductor, STMicroelectronics,
and Tagore Technology amongst others. While
EPC announced expansion of its family of footprint
compatible ePower stage ICs to boost power density
and simplify design for different power requirements
in dc-dc applications, motor drives, and class-D audio
amplifiers, Navitas launched a new family of GaNSense
control ICs that deliver unprecedented levels of
performance and integration. An array of integrated
protection features include 800 V transient voltage, 2
kV ESD, over-voltage, over-current, and over-temperature
protection. Likewise, CGD demonstrated that its
ICeGaN GaN HEMT is more reliable and robust than
other GaN platforms. An experimental evidence was
presented that showed that ICeGaN HEMTs, enabled
by smart protection circuitry, offers exceptionally high
over-voltage margin of over 70 V, which is comparable
to state-of-the-art traditional silicon devices, according
to CGD.
Similarly, GaN Systems (to be acquired by Infineon)
introduced a new 11 kW, 800 V on-board charger (OBC) reference
design with 36% greater power density and 15%
lower BOM cost than SiC based OBC. Exploiting its 8-inch
GaN-on-Si process, Innoscience debuted a new product
labeled SolidGaN, which integrates two 100 V low Rdson
GaN devices in half-bridge and a gate driver into one compact
surface mount package.
Si on the Move
Si is not slowing was evident with numerous new product
introductions in the Si arena. For example, onsemi, a
major supplier of intelligent power and sensing technologies,
announced a new range of ultra-efficient 1200 V insulated-gate
bipolar transistors (IGBTs) that minimize
conduction and switching losses at a performance level
that is industry-leading in the market. Intended to
enhance efficiency in fast switching applications, the new
devices will be primarily used in energy infrastructure
applications like solar inverters, uninterruptible power
supplies (UPS), energy storage and EV charging power
conversion. " As efficiency is extremely critical in all high
switching frequency energy infrastructure applications,
we focused on reducing turn-off switching losses and providing
the best switching performance in this new range
of IGBTs, " said Asif Jakwani, senior vice president and
general manager of the Advanced Power Division, which
is part of the Power Solutions Group at onsemi.
Other Si proponents displaying their Si products include
ADI, Amber Semiconductor, Alpha & Omega, Empower
Semiconductor, Infineon Technologies, Nexperia, Silanna
Semiconductor, Taiwan Semiconductor, and Texas Instruments
to name a few.
In summary, 2023 APEC was a memorable event with
exciting activities and sessions throughout the five days of
the conference and exposition. In the words of the general
chair, it was an impactful week!
About the Author
Ashok Bindra (bindra1@verizon.net) received the M.S.
degree from the Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering, Clarkson College of Technology (now Clarkson
University), Potsdam, NY, USA, and the M.Sc. degree in
physics from the University of Bombay, India. He is the Editor-in-Chief
of IEEE Power Electronics Magazine and a
member of the IEEE. He is a veteran writer and editor with
more than 40 years of editorial experience covering power
electronics, analog/radio-frequency technologies, and power
semiconductors. He is a member of IEEE and PELS.
June 2023 z IEEE POWER ELECTRONICS MAGAZINE 85
IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - June 2023

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