18 May 2018

Navitas co-founder Kinzer presenting keynote at inaugural IEEE WiPDA Asia conference

© Semiconductor Today Magazine / Juno PublishiPicture: Disco’s DAL7440 KABRA laser saw.

At the inaugural IEEE Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices and Applications in Asia (WiPDA Asia 2018) at the Cullinan Huicheng Hotel in Xi’an Shanxi, China (19 May), Dan Kinzer - co-founder & chief technology officer/chief operating officer of Navitas Semiconductor Inc of El Segundo, CA, USA - is delivering a keynote address to share the latest GaNFast power IC technology developments.

Founded in 2013, Navitas introduced what it claimed to be the first commercial GaN power ICs. The firm says that its proprietary ‘AllGaN’ process design kit (PDK) monolithically integrates GaN power field-effect transistors (FETs) with logic and analog circuits, enabling smaller, higher-energy-efficiency and lower-cost power for mobile, consumer, enterprise and new energy markets.

“This inaugural WiPDA Asia conference brings a forum to China and the rest of Asia for the best minds in next-generation, wide-bandgap power semiconductor devices to share their advances,” says Kinzer. “It is an excellent opportunity to show the device-level and system-level performance and robustness benefits of GaNFast power ICs,” he adds. The advances are enabling a “new class of high-frequency, high-efficiency and high-density power systems.”

In his keynote ‘GaN Power IC Performance, Reliability and System Benefits’, Kinzer is discussing GaN-integrated features such as drivers, voltage regulators, level shifters, bootstrap-charging, dV/dt control, with shoot-through and ESD protection. These features are said to not only protect the system but also cut frequency-related losses so dramatically that they enable a 10-20x increase in switching frequency with lower total losses. The resulting efficiency allows a new generation of high-density power converters to operate with minimum heatsinking and well-controlled case and external touch temperatures.

“China is a very strategic region for Navitas and for the power electronics industry,” comments Charles Zha, Navitas’ senior director of China sales. “We are investing aggressively in China – last month we announced our first China sales office and applications lab in Shenzhen,” he adds. “This invited keynote at the first ever WiPDA event in China further reinforces the Navitas commitment to bring the world’s most advanced power semiconductors to the region.”

Tags: GaN Power electronics

Visit: www.wipda-asia.org

Visit: www.navitassemi.com