Simulation and characterization of GaN HEMT in high-frequency switched-mode power converters

Rodrı́guez, Miguel A.; Stahl, Greg; Costinett, Daniel; Maksimović, Dragan

doi:10.1109/compel.2012.6251781

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Nevertheless, occurrences of this problem have been reported several times in the literature, and most of these reports have occurred during the last one or two years as WBG device adoption has accelerated. For example, Rodriguez et al [9] report the occurrence of self-sustained oscillation of GaN FETs during switching characterization. Danilovic et al [10] also report a switching characterization effort with GaN devices that encountered selfsustained oscillation.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 98%

Instability in Half-Bridge Circuits Switched With Wide Band-Gap Transistors

Lemmon

Mazzola

Gafford

et al. 2014

IEEE Trans. Power Electron.

142

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Wide band-gap (WBG) field-effect devices are known to provide a system-level performance benefit compared to silicon devices when integrated into power electronics applications. However, the near-ideal features of these switching devices can also introduce unexpected behavior in practical systems due to the presence of parasitic elements. The occurrence of self-sustained oscillation is one such behavior that has not received adequate study in the literature. This paper provides an analytical treatment of this phenomenon by casting the switching circuit as an unintentional negative resistance oscillator. This treatment utilizes an established procedure from the oscillator design literature and applies it to the problem of power circuit oscillation. A simulation study is provided to identify the sensitivity of the model to various parameters, and the predictive value of the model is confirmed by experiment involving two exemplary WBG devices: a SiC vertical-channel JFET and a SiC lateral-channel MOSFET. The results of this study suggest that susceptibility to self-sustained oscillation is correlated to the available power density of the device relative to the parasitic elements in the circuit, for which wide band-gap devices, to include SiC and GaN transistors, are in a class approaching that of the radio frequency domain.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 98%

Instability in Half-Bridge Circuits Switched With Wide Band-Gap Transistors

Lemmon

Mazzola

Gafford

et al. 2014

IEEE Trans. Power Electron.

142

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show abstract

“…A maximum 2.4 kV/us dV/dt was observed during this test. It is very to low to what was expected (around 38 kV/us [11]), this explains by the not optimized packaging of the GaN inverter leg that impacts particularly the gate inductance and the built-in gate resistor of the driver (1.2 Ohms).…”

Section: Coreless Transformers At 200°cmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…The baseline driver design implements ferrite cores from Ferroxcube (TC 6/4/2) ensure the data signal insulation. An improvement to increase the driver density is to replace those cores by coreless transformers, [11]. Characteristics of the driver are summarized in table 2.…”

Section: Gate Driver For Gan Devices 21 Specificationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

GaN Power Module with High Temperature Gate Driver and Insulated Power Supply

Perrin

Bergogne

Martin

et al. 2014

Additional Conferences (Device Packaging, HiTEC, HiTEN, and CICMT)

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Emerging GaN power switches show advantages for integration in power modules at high temperature and/or high efficiency. These modules are good candidates for embedded power converters in harsh environment such as three phase inverters for Electro-Mechanical Actuators (EMA) in the vicinity of internal combustion engines. The power range is usually within 1 to 5 kW, extending sometimes up to 50 kW, using a high voltage DC bus (HVDC) that is usually comprised between 200 V and 600 V. For aeronautical applications, GaN power switches could challenge SiC transistors for their high switching speed, hence reduced switching losses, therefore lower embarked mass. For automotive applications, it is the relative promise for lower cost per Amp that is pushing this technology up. This is why a project joining GaN device conception, power module development and gate driver optimization using high temperature technologies was set-up. This paper presents the first practical results: a functional GaN power inverter-leg driven by a specific high temperature gate driver with signal and power insulation. This building block requires an auxiliary DC supply with a input voltage of 14 V or 28 V and an external PWM control signal. Current rating is 20 A and breakdown voltage is 200 V.

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“…As modem telecommunications rely on higher data rates and are based on envelope-modulated signals featuring larger In this context, highly efficient DC/DC converters, capable of handling such bandwidths, are very attractive [4], [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A very high frequency step-down DC/DC converter for spaceborne envelope-tracking SSPA

Leroy

Gallou

Delepaut

et al. 2014

2014 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS2014)

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An experimental VHF DCIDC converter aimed at envelope-tracking amplifiers for space applications is presented. Based on Gallium Nitride components, it is capable of operating in the range of tens of watts, as required by on-board transmitters. When driven by a 50-MHz PWM signal, it reaches a peak efficiency of 91.6%. A detailed breakdown of the associated losses is reported in order to identify the contributions. Additional measurements at 67 MHz show a peak efficiency of 89.8%.

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Simulation and characterization of GaN HEMT in high-frequency switched-mode power converters

Cited by 7 publications

References 13 publications

Instability in Half-Bridge Circuits Switched With Wide Band-Gap Transistors

Instability in Half-Bridge Circuits Switched With Wide Band-Gap Transistors

GaN Power Module with High Temperature Gate Driver and Insulated Power Supply

A very high frequency step-down DC/DC converter for spaceborne envelope-tracking SSPA

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