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Since completing the acquisition of the global supplier of GaN (Gallium Nitride) power semiconductors, Transphorm, in mid-2024, Japanese chip giant Renesas has not rushed to disclose its plans in this area.
However, at the time of the acquisition announcement, former Renesas Electronics Senior Vice President and Power General Manager Chris Allexandre stated: “By integrating external company technologies into turnkey designs, customers can immediately benefit from the new GaN products. Adding GaN to our product configuration also strengthens our commitment to developing products and technologies that make people’s lives easier. Providing powerful, sustainable power cost solutions, saving energy, and minimizing environmental impact is how we achieve this goal.”
Recently, Kenny Yim, Senior Director of GaN/Power at Renesas, finally brought the company’s latest products and insights regarding GaN.
High-Power GaN Has Great Potential
Although both SiC (Silicon Carbide) and GaN are referred to as third-generation semiconductors, for a long time, many believed that GaN could only focus on medium to low power applications, while high-power applications were solely the domain of SiC. However, Kenny Yim believes this view is not entirely correct, and this is precisely what distinguishes Renesas GaN from other suppliers. It is reported that based on the company’s layout in E-Mode GaN, Renesas can provide GaN products with power levels in the tens of watts.
In addition, Renesas can also offer high-power GaN covering 6KW to 12KW. For applications such as motor drives and OBC charging in electric vehicles, the company can provide high-power GaN solutions. Ultimately, this is mainly due to the company’s accumulation in D-Mode GaN and the acquisition of the pioneering company Transphorm in this type of device.
“When we talk about high voltage, we mean below 1200V,” emphasized Kenny Yim. He further pointed out that while SiC also focuses on this voltage range, unlike GaN, which has lower processing costs, SiC wafer manufacturing is done in a way that requires diamond processing, leading to higher costs. This is one of the reasons why Renesas believes GaN has advantages over SiC in the range below 1200V.
Readers familiar with GaN should know that there are two development paths for GaN HEMT (High Electron Mobility Transistor) in the market: common-source common-gate (normally-off) D-mode and enhancement-mode E-mode. Each of these devices has its characteristics, which has led to their respective supporters. Most domestic manufacturers adopt the E-Mode route. However, Renesas believes that while D-Mode GaN FETs are normally-on, they achieve a normally-off state through a common-source common-gate configuration, maximizing the inherent advantages of GaN, allowing it to exhibit excellent performance characteristics.
Kenny Yim explained that because D-Mode GaN does not have P-GaN, it can create GaN devices with gate voltages similar to ordinary MOSFETs. Moreover, this mode does not have the so-called dynamic Rds (on). This means that the internal resistance of the device is essentially the same whether it is operating or not, making it superior to E-Mode designs in high-power applications.
“Because D-Mode GaN does not have a body diode, it does not have reverse recovery, allowing us to achieve 99% efficiency in full-bridge or half-bridge applications. In comparison, SiC can currently achieve a maximum efficiency of 98.5% to 98.6% in non-bridge PFC applications. Therefore, we believe GaN can completely replace SiC in applications below 1200V,” reiterated Kenny Yim.
Kenny Yim summarized that in high-power applications, D-Mode GaN has the following advantages:
1. For the same power level (e.g., 2000W), the amount of GaN used in D-Mode devices is half that of E-Mode;
2. Reliability at high temperatures is also higher than that of E-Mode GaN;
3. It can be used in standard packaging, and its power consumption is better than that of E-Mode GaN;
Additionally, GaN often serves as a diode. For example, in motor drive applications, the GaN can act as an energy-storing diode for half of the time. In this case, E-Mode devices have a significant reverse conduction voltage drop, leading to higher power consumption, but D-Mode does not have this issue.
Although D-Mode GaN has clear advantages, as seen, most GaN manufacturers in the market, except for a few like Renesas, are entering the E-Mode GaN track. According to Kenny Yim, the reason for this situation is that the most critical technology of D-Mode—”controlling D-Mode GaN with MOSFETs”—is patented by Renesas. He confidently stated that for the next 20 years, only Renesas is likely to provide this patent.
Kenny Yim further pointed out that in the field of D-Mode GaN, Renesas has been self-sufficient from the epitaxial layer. Of course, the company also provides some solutions for customers, ensuring reliable support for Renesas’s independent research and production capabilities in the GaN industry.
Based on these leading accumulations, Renesas recently launched its leading GaN devices.
Renesas’ Fourth Generation Plus GaN Products
According to Kenny Yim, after more than a decade of iterative updates, Renesas has introduced its fourth generation plus (Gen IV Plus) GaN products—three new high-voltage 650V GaN FETs: TP65H030G4PRS, TP65H030G4PWS, and TP65H030G4PQS based on the SuperGaN platform.
Since SuperGaN FETs use silicon FETs as the input stage, they can easily be driven by standard off-the-shelf gate drivers without the need for specialized drivers typically required for E-Mode GaN. This compatibility simplifies design and lowers the threshold for system developers to adopt GaN. At the same time, this series of GaN also minimizes power consumption by reducing gate charge, output capacitance, cross-loss, and dynamic resistance effects, and features a higher 4V threshold voltage, which is unattainable by today’s enhancement-mode (E-mode) GaN devices.
In terms of performance, compared to the fourth-generation products, this series not only improves switching performance but also achieves a 30 mΩ on-resistance (RDS(on)), a 14% reduction year-on-year. Meanwhile, the figure of merit (FOM) of the device’s on-resistance times output capacitance has improved by 20%. Smaller chip sizes reduce system costs and output capacitance, thereby enhancing efficiency and power density. These advantages make this type of device very suitable for cost-sensitive applications with high thermal requirements; in addition, the new devices are fully compatible with existing designs, allowing for easy upgrades while retaining existing engineering investments.
When asked why they first launched the 30mΩ device, Kenny Yim responded: “Because in high-power situations, the largest current market focuses on applications such as server power supplies, energy storage, dual-phase energy storage, and UPS, ranging from 2kW to 7.5kW. Previously, these applications were covered by 35mΩ products, and the newly launched 30mΩ product is intended to replace the previous generation of 35mΩ similar products. We will soon launch a 22mΩ product targeting the AI server market for 6.6kW to 7.5kW,” Kenny Yim added.
Returning to these three new products, they feature compact TOLT, TO-247, and TOLL packages, providing one of the widest packaging options to meet the thermal performance and layout optimization needs of power systems from 1kW to 10kW (or even higher power in parallel). Their new surface-mount package also includes bottom (TOLL) and top (TOLT) thermal paths, which can lower the case temperature, making it easier to achieve device paralleling when higher conduction currents are required. Additionally, the commonly used TO-247 package offers customers higher heat dissipation capabilities for achieving higher power.
Based on these leading features, Renesas hopes these three devices will support new 800V high-voltage direct current (HVDC) architectures, electric vehicle charging, UPS battery backup devices, battery storage, and solar inverters. These newly upgraded devices are also designed for kilowatt-level applications—combining efficient GaN technology with silicon-compatible gate driver inputs to significantly reduce switching power losses while retaining the ease of operation of silicon FETs.
Primit Parikh, head of Renesas’ GaN business, stated: “The launch of the fourth generation Plus GaN devices marks Renesas’ first significant new product milestone since acquiring Transphorm last year. Future versions will combine proven SuperGaN technology with our drivers and controllers to provide complete power solutions. Whether used as standalone FETs or integrated into complete system solution designs with Renesas’ controllers or drivers, these devices will provide a clear path to designing products with higher power density, smaller footprints, greater efficiency, and lower total system costs.”
Kenny Yim added that in addition to GaN devices, Renesas can also provide a range of components including MCUs, BMS, high-voltage switches, gate drivers, PWM, and DC-DC converters, allowing the company to create a complete GaN solution, lowering the entry barrier for customers and providing comprehensive services. Thanks to such strong capabilities, Renesas has delivered over 20 million GaN devices for high-power and low-power applications, with actual usage time exceeding 300 billion hours.
Looking ahead, Renesas also hopes to launch 1200V devices at the right time to enrich its product line and add more chips to its GaN market portfolio.
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