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Bidirectional 650-V GaN Switch Helps Boost Efficiency of Converter Architectures

June 9, 2025

Infineon’s CoolGaN 650-V integrated bidirectional switch is a simpler, higher-efficiency alternative to traditional back-to-back configurations commonly used in converters.

Lee Goldberg

Related To:

Electronic Design

The CoolGaN bidirectional 650-V G5 from Infineon Technologies is a gallium-nitride (GaN) switch capable of actively blocking voltage and current in both directions. The monolithic bidirectional switch (BDS) features a common-drain design and double-gate structure that makes it a simpler, more efficient alternative to traditional back-to-back configurations commonly used in converters.

By integrating two switches in one device, the BDS simplifies the design of cycloconverter topologies that offer improved efficiency, increased reliability, and a more compact design. In addition, the device supports advanced grid functions such as reactive power compensation and bidirectional operation.

These unique capabilities allow them to improve the efficiency and reliability of a wide range of applications, including:

Microinverters: For residential and commercial solar installations.
Energy storage systems (ESS): Battery chargers and dischargers, etc.
Electric-vehicle (EV) charging: The BDS supports faster, more efficient charging and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) functionality.
AI data centers: The CoolGaN BDS can support higher switching frequencies and power densities for architectures such as Vienna rectifiers and H4 PFCs.
Motor control: Current-source inverters (CSIs) for industrial motor drives that use CoolGaN BDS offer multiple benefits such as:
- Producing a sinusoidal output voltage, which supports longer cable runs, reduced losses, and improved fault tolerance.
- Replacing the DC-link capacitor with an inductor, improving high-temperature performance and short-circuit protection.
- Higher efficiency at partial loads, lower EMI, inherent buck-boost capability for voltage variation, and scalability for parallel operation.

The CoolGaN 650-V G5 is available for ordering now, as are samples of the 110-mΩ product. Additional information can be found by clicking here.

About the Author

Lee Goldberg | Contributing Editor

Lee Goldberg is a self-identified “Recovering Engineer,” Maker/Hacker, Green-Tech Maven, Aviator, Gadfly, and Geek Dad. He spent the first 18 years of his career helping design microprocessors, embedded systems, renewable energy applications, and the occasional interplanetary spacecraft. After trading his ‘scope and soldering iron for a keyboard and a second career as a tech journalist, he’s spent the next two decades at several print and online engineering publications.

Lee’s current focus is power electronics, especially the technologies involved with energy efficiency, energy management, and renewable energy. This dovetails with his coverage of sustainable technologies and various environmental and social issues within the engineering community that he began in 1996. Lee also covers 3D printers, open-source hardware, and other Maker/Hacker technologies.

Lee holds a BSEE in Electrical Engineering from Thomas Edison College, and participated in a colloquium on technology, society, and the environment at Goddard College’s Institute for Social Ecology. His book, “Green Electronics/Green Bottom Line - A Commonsense Guide To Environmentally Responsible Engineering and Management,” was published by Newnes Press.

Lee, his wife Catherine, and his daughter Anwyn currently reside in the outskirts of Princeton N.J., where they masquerade as a typical suburban family.

Lee also writes the regular PowerBites series.