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Wide bandgap semiconductors have emerged as an attractive option for silicon (Si) replacement in the recent years. Among the new materials, gallium nitride (GaN) has been considered as the most promising candidate. This paper presents an overview of the GaN technology in power electronics. The review focuses on the main aspects of GaN transistors, such as electrical, thermal and economical characteristics. A comparison between Si and GaN switching devices in a family of synchronous buck converters designed for LED lighting applications is also presented. This comparison was performed using synchronous buck converters, designed under same parameters, at five different switching frequencies, ranging from 100 kHz to 1 MHz. Efficiency and temperatures were recorded. GaN based converters presented higher efficiency and lower operating temperatures in all cases, with a maximum efficiency of 96.8% and a minimum of 94.5%. Besides, Si-based converters exhibited a higher performance degradation as switching frequency and dead time increase.

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