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Transphorm, Inc. announced it has demonstrated up to 5 microsecond short circuit withstand time (SCWT) on a GaN power transistor with a patented technology. The achievement is the first of its kind on record, marking an important milestone for the industry as a whole. It proves Transphorm GaN’s ability to meet the required short circuit capabilities of rugged power inverters such as servo motors, industrial motors, and automotive powertrains served traditionally by silicon IGBTs or silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs— an over $3 billion GaN TAM over the next 5 years.
The demonstration was developed with support from Yaskawa Electric Corporation, a long-term strategic partner of Transphorm’s and a global leader in low and medium voltage drives, servo systems, machine controllers, and industrial robots. This makes GaN a highly attractive power conversion technology for servo systems, as it allows for higher efficiency and reduced size compared to incumbent solutions.
To do that, GaN must pass stringent robustness tests—of which, short-circuit survivability is the most challenging. In case of short-circuit faults, the device must survive extreme conditions with both high current and high voltage. The system can take up to a few microseconds to detect the fault and shut down the operations. During this time, the device must withstand the fault on its own.
“If a power semiconductor device cannot survive short-circuit events, the system itself may fail. There was a strong perception that GaN power transistors could not meet the short circuit requirements needed for heavy-duty power applications such as ours,” said Motoshige Maeda, Department Manager of Fundamental R&D Management Department, Corporate Technology Division, Yaskawa. “Having worked with Transphorm for many years, we believed that perception to be unfounded and have been proven right today. We’re excited about what their team has accomplished and look forward to demonstrating how this new GaN feature can benefit our designs.”
The short-circuit technology has been demonstrated on a newly designed 15 mΩ 650 V GaN device. Notably, that device reaches a peak efficiency of 99.2% and a maximum power of 12 kW in hard-switching conditions at 50 kHz. The device demonstrated not only performance, but also reliability, passing high-temperature high-voltage stress requirements.
“Standard GaN devices can withstand short-circuit for only a few hundredths of nanoseconds, which is too short for fault detection and safe shut-down. However, with our cascode architecture and key patented technology, we were able to demonstrate short-circuit withstand time up to 5 microseconds with no additional external components, thus retaining low cost and high performance,” said Umesh Mishra, CTO and Co-Founder, Transphorm.
“We understand the demands of high-power, high-performance inverter systems. We have a long history of strong innovation, and we’re proud to say that experience helped us bring GaN to the next level. This is yet another validation of Transphorm’s global leadership in high voltage GaN robustness and reliability and will be a gamechanger for GaN in motor drives and other high-power systems.”
The full description explaining the SCWT achievement, the demonstration analysis, and more is expected to be presented at a major power electronics conference next year.
Original – Transphorm
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Transphorm, Inc. responded to the recent news regarding China export restrictions. Late Monday, July 3, 2023, China’s Ministry of Commerce stated that it will restrict the exports of materials related to two metals used in semiconductor manufacturing: gallium and germanium. Gallium nitride (GaN) wafer materials are listed as being affected by these regulations.
Transphorm manufactures high voltage GaN power semiconductors. Trimethylgallium (TMGa) is used to produce the GaN. The company confirmed that its primary TMGa suppliers are not based in China and that suppliers have confirmed to be well-positioned to meet forecasted demand. Transphorm is therefore securely positioned to continue manufacturing and supplying its GaN devices without interruption.
Transphorm also explained gallium is generally a byproduct resulting from refinement processes used to produce popular metals such as aluminum from bauxite ore. Aluminum is produced in numerous countries such as Australia, Brazil, India, Jamaica, and the United States among others.
Transphorm will continue to the monitor the situation as necessary but sees no direct impact on its current operations. Nor does the company see long-term sourcing issues.
Original – Transphorm
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Transphorm, Inc. announced availability of its 1200 V FET simulation model and preliminary datasheet. The TP120H070WS FET is the only 1200 V GaN-on-Sapphire power semiconductor introduced to date, making its model the first of its kind. Its release indicates Transphorm’s ability to support future automotive power systems as well as three-phase power systems typically used in the broad industrial, datacom, and renewables markets. These applications will benefit from the 1200 V GaN device’s higher power density and reliability along with equal or better performance at more reasonable cost points versus alternative technologies.
Transphorm recently validated the GaN device’s higher performance ability in a 5 kW 900 V buck converter switching at 100 kHz. The 1200 V GaN device achieved 98.7% efficiency, exceeding that of a similarly rated production SiC MOSFET.
The innovative 1200 V technology also underscores Transphorm’s leadership in GaN power conversion. Vertical integration, epitaxy ownership, and patented process paired with decades of engineering expertise enable the company to bring to market the highest performing GaN device portfolio with four additional major differentiators: Manufacturability, Drivability, Designability, and Reliability.
Transphorm’s 1200 V technology is anchored in proven process and mature technology, satisfying customer confidence requirements. The GaN-on-Sapphire process is in volume production today in the LED market. Additionally, the 1200 V technology leverages the fundamentally superior, normally-off GaN platform used in Transphorm’s current device portfolio.
Key TP120H070WS device specifications include:
- 70 mΩ RDS(on)
- Normally off
- Efficient bidirectional current flow
- ± 20 Vmax gate robustness
- Low 4Vth gate drive noise immunity
- Zero QRR
- 3-lead TO-247 package
The Verilog-A device model is recommended for use with the SIMetrix Pro v8.5 Circuit Simulator. A LTSpice model is in development and will be released in Q4 2023. Simulation modeling allows for fast and efficient power system design validation while reducing design iterations, development time, and hardware investments.
The device model files and datasheet are available for download here: https://www.transphormusa.com/en/products/#models
1200 V FET samples are expected to be available by Q1 2024.
Original – Transphorm
