ROHM Introduces 150 V GaN High Electron Mobility Transistor with an 8 V Withstand Gate Voltage

Introduced at the Applied Power Electronics Conference 2022 (APEC 2022) last week, the GNE1040TB is the first member of ROHM’s GNE10xxTB series. Part of ROHM’s new EcoGaN family, the series will sport at least two additional members, each of which, like the GNE1040TB, will tolerate an 8 V gate source (g-s) voltage.  

MOSFETs are driven by 5 V signals, and standard devices are subject to degradation or destruction with signals as low as 6 V. And such overshoots are not uncommon, especially in electrically noisy industrial environments. See the illustration below:

 

GNE10xxTB units can easily weather overshoots to 6V. Image [modified] used courtesy of ROHM

 

That slight overshoot, barely above 6 V, would be enough to damage or destroy a standard GaN HEMT. But with their 8 V withstand gate voltage, GNE10xxTB series members would be unscathed.

 

ROHM’s EcoGaN Technology

The demand for server systems to support the world’s growing number of IoT devices is ever-increasing. This, in turn, has led to demands for improved power conversion efficiency and for system size reductions. GaN devices are at the forefront of this ongoing quest, thanks to their faster switching speeds and lower RDS(ON)s compared to last-generation silicon (Si) devices.

In Japan, where ROHM is based, the government is targeting 30% energy savings for new data centers by 2030, and the company’s new EcoGaN devices are part of its response. The family’s low RDS(ON)s reduce I²R losses, while its high switching speeds lead to smaller filtering components for significant savings in size and weight.

 

Simplicity of Design

The standard GaN MOSFET 1 V safety margin forces engineers to devote extra circuitry to protect the gate from even small overshoots. 

 

GNE10xxTB series HEMTs add an extra buffer of voltage protection. Image [modified] used courtesy of ROHM

 

That means extra components, imposing additional requirements for weight and space. With EcoGaN, this is avoided.

 

Optimized Package

GNE10xxTB series members are housed in 5 x 6 x 1 mm DFN5060 packages employing copper clip junction packaging technology. This serves to reduce parasitic inductance by 55% over conventional packages, while maximizing device performance for circuits operating at high frequencies.

 

96.5% High-Frequency Efficiency

With their increased rated gate-source voltage and low-inductance packages, members of ROHM’s GNE10xxTB series achieve an efficiency of 96.5% or more in the high 1-MHz frequency band.

 

Members of ROHM’s GNE10xxTB series

All members of the series sport VDSs and VGSs of 150 and 8 V, respectively. The table below notes a few additional specifications:

GNE10xxTB Series Model Specs

Part Number	IDS	RDS(ON)	Qg
GNE1040TB	30 A	40 mΩ	2.0 nC
GNE1007TB	80 A	7 mΩ	10.2 nC
GNE1015TB	55 A	15 mΩ	4.9 nC

 

The GNE1040TB is in production, while the GNE1015TB and the GNE1007TB are under development.

 

Applications

• Drones
• 48 V input buck converter circuits for data centers 
• Boost converter circuits for the power amp block of base stations
• Half bridge technologies
• Secondary side of AC/DC converters
• LiDAR drive circuits
• Wireless charging circuits for portable devices
• Class D audio amps

 

Environmental Notes 

Series members are RoHS-compliant.

 

Physical Considerations 

The units operate at junction temperatures as high as 150 ℃.

 

Feature image used courtesy of ROHM