GaN Systems plans to replace silicon IGBTs in hybrid/electric-vehicles (HEV) powertrains with its GaN power transistors, which feature lower on-resistance and minimal switching losses. The company’s Island Technology addresses the cost-, performance-, and manufacturability-related challenges of gallium nitride. The resulting devices are up to four times smaller and four times more efficient than traditional design approaches.
GaN Systems presented a technical paper at APEC that described the application of Spice models developed for very-high-power GaN devices and integrated GaN drive circuits in automotive designs. Advanced thermally augmented SPICE models were developed so that large-area GaN devices could be simulated in conjunction with an integrated GaN driver. These models demonstrate the effectiveness of gallium-nitride devices in automotive environments that typically encounter very wide temperature ranges and high electrical noise.