International Rectifier Corp. has successfully developed
a GaN-based (gallium-nitride) power-device
technology platform. It’s expected to provide improvements
in two key application-specific figures of merit,
on resistance and gate charge, of up to a factor of 10 compared
to state-of-the-art silicon-based technology platforms.
On resistance relates to how
much current you can process in
a unit area. It also can be related
to the cost per amp of processing
the power. Gate charge, which is
the on resistance multiplied by
the charge being switched, deals
with how well a device can be
used in switching applications,
like switch-mode power supplies.
GAN TALK AT DARNELL’S
DIGITAL POWER FORUM
I found out more about this
announcement at the recent Darnell
Digital Power Forum held
in San Francisco. Michael Briere, an executive scientific consultant
exclusively with IR, gave a talk on GaN-based power
devices during the event. I also got a chance to listen in as
Analog/Power Editor Don Tuite interviewed him.
Briere says that even at the introduction of this platform,
GaN represents a significant improvement over state-of-theart
silicon, which has been developed over 30 years. By the way,
the GaN-based power-device technology platform is the result
of five years of research and development by IR based on the
company’s proprietary GaN-on-silicon epitaxial technology.
“It’s clear that in the next five years, you can expect an order
of magnitude improvement in that figure of merit, down to
something on the order of 3 m -nanocoulombs,” said Briere.
This breakthrough is expected to dramatically increase performance
and cut energy consumption in end applications in a
variety of market segments such as computing and communications,
automotive, and appliances.
Briere says that GaN is also more cost-effective than other
compound semiconductor technologies, such as silicon carbide.
The combination of cost effectiveness and the functional figures
of merit will mean that this technology will allow quite
radical improvements in power electronics, which in the end
will save both space and energy.
I was particularly impressed with a slide from Briere’s presentation
that showed a graph of figure of merit over time. The
graph starts before 1978 with silicon and notes the different
introductions of devices such as IR’s HEXFET, the trendFET,
the super-junction MOSFET, and next-generation silicon.
The amazing part of the graph is how GaN seems to pick up
where silicon leaves off.
According to IR, prototypes of several new GaN-based
product platforms will be available to its leading OEM customers
at Electronica, scheduled
for Nov. 11-14 in Munich. Also,
you can watch Don’s interview
with Briere.
FROST & SULLIVAN’S
INNOVATION OF THE YEAR
During my trip to San Francisco,
I also attended Frost & Sullivan’s
4th Annual Growth, Innovation
and Leadership conference. One
of its highlights was the awards
banquet, where the 2008 Frost &
Sullivan North American Technology
Innovation of the Year award went to Innolume for its
innovative laser technology.
“Innolume’s unique laser technology is based on quantum
dots (QDs), which provide a wide operational spectrum covering
1064 nm to 1310 nm as well as broad optical gain,” said
Avinash Bhaskar, research analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “The
company’s technological innovation promises inexpensive yet
highly efficient light sources for emerging applications, including
silicon photonics for optical interconnect systems and
lasers for niche medical applications such as optical coherence
tomography (OCT).”
Innolume develops laser semiconductor chips and modules
at the specific wavelength range of 1064 to 1310 nm for the
medical, industrial, communications, and computer markets.
Its quantum dot technology and proprietary design concepts
enable improvements in cost, performance, and quality of compound
semiconductor devices used in optoelectronics.
ANSOFT INSPIRING ENGINEERS
During a recent visit with the folks at Ansoft, product marketing
manager Mark Ravenstahl told me about Inspiring Engineering,
Ansoft’s 2008 application workshops. These events
focus on discussions of how applications of advanced electromagnetic
and circuit simulation solve some of today’s most
challenging design problems. More information is available at
www.ansoft.com/ie/.
See Associated Figure
