Allegro MicroSystems, Inc. announced the launch of its new Power-Thru isolated gate driver (AHV85110). The first product introduced in the company’s Power-Thru portfolio; Allegro’s new isolated gate driver creates a single-package solution that drives GaN FETs with up to a 50% smaller footprint and a 40% efficiency improvement compared to competitor offerings. 

The global clean-energy movement requires power system designers in automotive and industrial markets to generate, store, and use energy more efficiently. Wide-bandgap silicon-carbide (SiC) and gallium-nitride (GaN) field-effect transistors (FETs) offer clear efficiency benefits at the system level but often come with integration challenges.

A traditional gate driver implementation requires both an isolated gate driver and a separate isolated power supply. When assembled, connections between the driver, power source, and FET can add unwanted noise and create pathways of electromagnetic interference (EMI) that can degrade performance. Mitigating these effects can create design complexity, adding time and cost to a project schedule as well as size and weight to a solution. 

Allegro’s patent-protected, highly differentiated Power-Thru gate driver (AHV85110) gives engineers and designers access to new and efficient high-power isolated gate-driving technologies that provide multiple system-level benefits. The new gate driver is innovative and unique, combining traditionally separate components—the isolated gate driver and the isolated power supply—into a single, compact, robust package. A perfect example of “less is more,” Allegro’s platform minimizes EMI pathways and simplifies integration, resulting in faster time to market, efficiency gains, and production cost savings.