Power 101: How GaN Increases Power Density

Gallum nitrite is a wideband gap semiconductor material that offers several performance advantages over silicon when used in power transistors, enabling smaller, lighter, and more efficient power supplies. One benefit of GaN when compared to silicon is the much lower R_on for a given breakdown voltage reducing R_on reduces conduction loss and while silicon is nearing its theoretical limit, Gan offers an immediate reduction in R_on and room for further reduction. GaN offers higher electron mobility, which allows Gan transistors to turn on and off faster. They also have no body diode, which results in nearly zero reverse recovery loss and a very short deadtime. All of this contributes to lower switching loss.

GaN's lower losses and faster switching allow designers to select smaller transformers, inductors, and output capacitors which are some of the largest components in a power supply. GaN also offers better thermal conductivity and a higher operating temperature range, allowing for smaller heat sinks and other thermal management components. Combined, these advantages result in increased power density. CUI offers a broad range of compact, high efficiency AC-DC power adapters using GaN technology to deliver up to a 250% increase in power density. They're ideal for desktop and other power conversion applications, where high efficiency and small form factor are desired.