This seminar will provide a comprehensive introduction to gallium nitride power transistors and how to effectively design with them. Migrating power electronics designs from conventional transistors to new wide bandgap devices can pose many challenges. This is exaggerated even further with GaN, because the HEMT is a fundamentally different type of transistor from a MOSFET. A firm background in the comparative device physics between Si/SiC MOSFETs and GaN HEMTs helps to make sense of the new recommended design approach. Part I of this seminar will cover the device background, walking through a typical GaN datasheet and explaining it in the context of how the device works. Part II will build on this background with a step-by-step system design approach for GaN, including PCB layout, gate driving, and paralleling. The seminar will conclude with a quick look at some interesting new directions such as bidirectional GaN transistors and monolithic integration, as well as some key applications where GaN adds the highest value.
