GaNPower International Inc. WWW. IGANPOWER.COM 230 -3410 LOUGHEED HWY VANCOUVER, BC, V5M 2A4 CANADA GaN HEMT Frequently Asked Questions 1 Q: Can we do pin to pin switch for silicon MOSFET or IGBT? A: The short answer is no. GaN HEMT power devices are far superior than the best silicon devices such as super junction MOSFETs. However, due to different requirements of gate driving voltage and extremely high dv/dt slew rate, special drivers and optimized PCB layouts are recommended to minimize the impact from circuit parasitics. Some packaging forms such as GaNPower’s DFN packaged devices offer both sense and force for the source terminal. Also, for traditional TO220 packages, please be advised that the pins are arranged as Gate – Source -Drain, and the thermal pad is connected to the source instead of drain. 2 Q: Are GaN power devices reliable? A: GaN power HEMTs have been tested by GaNPower and many other vendors, users and testing facilities to be as reliable (if not better than) silicon counterparts. 3 Q: How do GaN power devices compare with SiC? A: Currently GaN power HEMT devices are most suitable for low to medium voltage (≤1200V) and power (<50KW) applications. 4 Q: Do we need to parallel an FRD for applications such as inverters? A: GaN devices are different from silicon MOSFET or IGBT in that they have no inherent PN junction diodes that cause reverse recovery issue. User do not need to parallel an FRD for the purpose of suppressing the body diode reverse recovery effect, since GaN HEMT can operate in both first and third quadrants. However, care should be taken for the dead time power loss since the Vsd voltage of GaN HEMT is usually close to 2V. This is especially true when a negative gate voltage is applied. 5 Q: Can we parallel GaN HEMT devices? A: Yes, GaN HEMT is ideal for paralleling, due to positive temperature coefficient of Rdson and slightly positive temperature coefficient of threshold voltage. For more information, visit us at: www.iganpower.com, or contact us at
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