OTTAWA, Ontario --- The demand for more power in electronics continues to increase, while the space allowable for power continues to decrease. Power densities are increasing 3X or more in many applications. This increase in power has the collateral effect of producing more heat.
More heat traditionally results in the use of higher capacity fans and bigger heat sinks to prevent overheating of the electronic components and system failure. By replacing legacy power management circuits based on silicon MOSFETs and IGBTs with gallium nitride (GaN) transistor-based circuits, customers have designed power electronic systems that deliver 3X the power in the same size, or the same power in 1/3rd the size while miniturizing or completely eliminating the requirement for fans and heat sinks. It is the discrete GaN transistor which today is enabling design engineers with the performance required to meet increasingly demanding system specifications so they may successfully target a diverse array of new applications.
Additionally, with the analog IC industry‘s acceptance of GaN transistors as a fundamental building block, a steady stream of controller and driver products that leverage the benefits of GaN are entering the market. Linear Technology, Analog Devices, and Peregrine Semiconductor are examples of IC industry leaders who have developed products and reference designs to leverage the advantages GaN transistors bring to their solutions. For example, one Linear Technology design achieves the same output as their silicon solution in 50% the size, using no fan and operating at higher efficiency.