News: Microelectronics
16 November 2023
Transphorm and Allegro team up to increase GaN power system performance for high-power applications
Transphorm Inc of Goleta, near Santa Barbara, CA, USA — which designs and manufactures JEDEC- and AEC-Q101-qualified gallium nitride (GaN) field-effect transistors (FETs) for high-voltage power conversion — and Allegro MicroSystems Inc, which provides power and sensing semiconductor technology for motion control and energy-efficient systems, have announced a collaboration including Transphorm’s SuperGaN FETs and Allegro’s AHV85110 isolated gate driver to enable the expansion of GaN power system design for high-power applications.
Transphorm’s SuperGaN FETs are designed to work in various topologies and are available in several different packages to support a wide power range while also satisfying diverse end-application requirements. SuperGaN FETs are used in commercial products including higher-power systems where they are proven to increase reliability, power density, and efficiency, says Transphorm.
Allegro’s self-powered, single-channel isolated gate driver IC is optimized for driving GaN FETs in multiple applications and circuits. The AHV85110 is proven to enhance driver efficiency by as much as 50% compared with competing gate drivers. This unique solution simplifies system design, reduces noise by 10x and common mode capacitance by 15 times compared with other solutions on the market.
“Allegro’s AHV85110 high-voltage gate driver provides a highly compact and efficient power-stage implementation that helps to achieve an approximate 30% footprint reduction with the least number of external components and bias supply requirements around Transphorm’s power devices,” comments Tushar Dhayagude, VP of worldwide sales & FAE, Transphorm. “Combined with SuperGaN’s highest reliability and superior dynamic switching performance over competing technologies, the end result is a more efficient, more robust solution with increased power density in critical applications such as server, data centers, renewables and electric vehicles.”
The collaboration “further supports Allegro’s focus towards helping customers optimize GaN-based system development and design,” says Vijay Mangtani, VP & general manager of High Voltage Power, Allegro MicroSystems. “We are looking forward to the opportunity to combine our high-voltage isolated gate driver AHV85110 with Transphorm’s SuperGaN FET to enable higher power density, higher efficiency and higher power output in smaller form factors and provide value to both our and Transphorm’s customers.”
Those interested in testing the collaborative solution can do so via Allegro’s APEK85110KNH-06-T evaluation board, which incorporates both the AHV85110 designed to work in various applications along with Transphorm’s TOLL package (launched in October) available in three devices with on-resistances of 35mΩ, 50mΩ and 72mΩ.
