Beyond Silicon Limitations, CoolGaN™ Drives High-Efficiency Power Design Innovation

Power innovation beyond the limits of silicon, led by Infineon CoolGaN™
Executive Director Cho Yong-gyu: “GaN is no longer an option but a necessity in actual design sites”

“The physical limitations of silicon-based power devices have been predicted for a long time. In fields where high-efficiency and high-power density designs are required, it is no longer possible to achieve the expected performance with silicon. So the industry is naturally turning to gallium nitride (GaN).”

Dabo Corporation Technology Division Managing Director Yong-gyu Cho spoke about gallium nitride (GaN) technology, pointing out the potential and limitations of GaN as a next-generation power device technology that will overcome the limitations of silicon.

He explains that over the past 10 years, silicon-based RGBT and MOSFET devices have reached their limits in terms of improving switching loss and conduction loss, and attempts to improve switching speed for miniaturization and high-frequency power devices have also faced physical limitations.

“There is a dilemma that as switching speed increases, losses also increase. This cannot be solved with existing methods. Therefore, a transition to wide bandgap (WBG) technology has become inevitable.”

Infineon's CoolGaN™ The technology is a representative commercialization platform that responds to this technological transition. It drastically reduces switching loss by reducing parasitic capacitance and minimizing gate charge through a unique P-GaN gate structure and optimized epitaxy design. As a result, it can achieve power conversion efficiency of up to 98% and power density more than three times higher than conventional ones.