A new 8.5 kW power supply for AI and hyperscale data centers combines GaN power ICs with third-generation SiC MOSFETs. The SiC components, developed through two decades of research, use a trench-assisted planar technology that reduces case temperatures by up to 25°C compared to current devices. Testing indicates this temperature reduction can extend component lifespan by a factor of three.

The semiconductor advances include motor drive ICs for appliance and industrial applications, along with 650V bi-directional GaN technology for power conversion. New SiC modules target power grid infrastructure, renewable energy systems, EV charging stations, and uninterruptible power supplies.

Analysis from Yole Group indicates GaN and SiC technologies may represent 30% of the power semiconductor market by 2027, driven by demand for higher efficiency in data centers and electric vehicles. The technology’s reduced carbon footprint could contribute to CO2 emissions reduction targets through improved power conversion efficiency.

Technical discussions at the conference will examine how wide bandgap semiconductors can address thermal management challenges in high-power applications.

The technologies will be displayed at Hall C3, booth #129 at Trade Fair Center Messe München from November 12th-15th, 2024.

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“The new device is fabricated using our PowiGaN technology. It’s a proprietary process from PI that allows us to do very efficient power conversion,” explained Andy Smith, Director of Training at Power Integrations. “We’re marrying it with our InnoMux-2 technology, which is the ability to deliver multiple outputs with a single-stage converter both efficiently and accurately.”

The technology incorporates the 1700 V GaN switch with multi-output regulation, the company’s FluxLink digital isolation technology, and secondary-side zero voltage switching.

A key technical feature is the switch’s efficiency levels at higher voltages. Testing demonstrated consistent performance across voltage ranges. “We took one board and swapped the power IC between them… and look at that, the efficiency is pretty close to identical, which is astounding,” said Smith.

The 1700 V InnoMux-2 IC easily supports 1000 VDC nominal input voltage in a flyback configuration and achieves over 90 percent efficiency in applications requiring one, two, or three supply voltages. Each output is regulated within one percent accuracy, eliminating post regulators and improving system efficiency further by approximately ten percent. The new device replaces expensive silicon carbide (SiC) transistors in power supply applications such as automotive chargers, solar inverters, three-phase meters, and a wide variety of industrial power systems.

Smith continues, “We are able to build a 1700 V GaN transistor. Nobody else is, and the reason for that is the proprietary technology we use for our GaN.” The economics are also notable, with Smith adding that “GaN transistors are somewhere approaching the cost of silicon to manufacture. In fact, in the long term, GaN and silicon prices will probably converge.”

The market timing appears favorable. According to Ezgi Dogmus, Activity Manager at Yole Group, the power GaN device market is poised to reach $2 billion by the decade’s end.

The metering market presents an early opportunity. “Metering hits at that high voltage all day long. They have shorter design cycles than typically would be the case for an industrial application,” Smith explained, noting that “when they roll out energy meters, they tend to roll them out in large quantities, 20, 100,000 at a time.”

Radu Barsan, vice president of technology at Power Integrations, said, “Our rapid pace of GaN development has delivered three world-first voltage ratings in a span of less than two years: 900 V, 1250 V and now 1700 V. Our new InnoMux-2 ICs combine 1700 V GaN and three other recent innovations: independent, accurate, multi-output regulation; FluxLink, our secondary-side regulation (SSR) digital isolation communications technology; and zero voltage switching (ZVS) without an active-clamp, which all but eliminates switching losses.”

The InnoMux-2 with 1700V GaN technology is now available at $4.90 in 10,000-unit quantities. Power Integrations offers a reference design (RDR-1053) for a 60 W dual-output power supply to demonstrate the technology’s capabilities.

This development in power conversion technology could enable new options for high-voltage applications while balancing efficiency and cost considerations. As energy efficiency requirements evolve, technologies like this may contribute to meeting future power conversion needs.

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Be sure to see EE World’s APEC 2024 coverage on datacenter power and test equipment.

Alpha & Omega Semiconductor

Electronics generate heat. It’s what they do. Alpha & Omega Semiconductor has developed a package that it calls MEGA IPM7 for its intelligent power modules. The SMD package contains an embedded IGBT for motor drives in appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners. What makes the package different is its surface contains metal, which helps to pull heat away from the embedded device.

Analog Devices

Analog Devices introduced the LT8418, a 100 V half-bridge GaN gate driver. Designed to minimize EMI issues, the LT8418’s split gate drivers let you adjust a GaN FET’s turn-on and turn-off slew rates. The device can source up to 4 A peak and sink up to 8 A.

Bourns

The manufacturer of power magnetics, circuit-protection devices, sensors, switches, and other devices focused on transformers chokes, gate drivers, and toroids.

Brightworks

Many of the power semiconductors seen at APEC have been designed into phone and laptop chargers from well-known manufacturers such as Anker, Belkin, and others, some of which will remain nameless. Brightworks manufactures chargers and power supplies that other companies private brand, using some of those power semiconductors. The photo shows a 20 W USB-C charger that the company let me take home. I’m tempted to crack open the case to see what’s inside.

Empower Semiconductor

The manufacturer of voltage regulators, silicon capacitors, and interposers exhibited an evaluation board for its EP7123 dual-output integrated voltage regulator. Each output supplies up to 6 A with a 3.3 V input. Other parts in the series include one, three, and four outputs.

Infineon

At APEC 2024, Infineon introduced the TDM22544D and TDM22545D high-density power modules designed for data center processors. The modules package a MOSFET with an inductor that’s surrounded by heat-dissipating metal.

Operating from the Infineon booth, AWL Electricity showed a rather unusual demonstration of wireless power transfer. In this video, Cédric Hamel-Bruneau uses a modified lamp with an LED bulb at one end and no power cord on the other. Instead, the base holds a receiver that receives power from a transmitter. The concept uses electric-fields to transfer power through capacitive coupling. That’s different than, say, a wireless charger that uses magnetic fields and inductive coupling.

Menlo Micro

You might think of Menlo Micro’s switching products for communications, 5G, and test & measurement but the company also makes power switches. The video shows a demonstration of the MM9200 power switch. Here, Menlo Micro shows a set of these switches running in a serial-parallel combination that the company says runs cooler than an identical configuration using SiC.

Microchip

Microchip exhibited the MAICMMC40X120 Aviation Power Core module that integrates an SiC MOSFET with drivers and a microcontroller. It can produce AC power with variable frequencies to drive motors for aerospace and defense applications.

Qorvo

The company introduced a series of SiC 1200 V half-bridge and full bridge power modules. The four modules in the UHBxxx12E1BC3N series have drain currents of 17 A, 25 A, 50 A, and 100 A with R_DS(ON) at 70 mΩ, 35 mΩ, 19 mΩ, and 9.4 mΩ, respectively.

Power Integrations

In the video, Andrew Smith explains how the company achieves multiple DC rails with a single chip. The InnoMux 2-EP is a zero-voltage switching (ZVS) flyback switcher that selects which of its loads needs energy.

TDK

TDK’s µPOL (point-of-load) DC-DC converters provide telemetry for parameters such as voltage, current, and temperature. The demonstration in the video shows a 12 A regulator sending telemetry to a computer. The converter’s output range is 0.6 V to 1.8 V.

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