Navitas Semiconductor announced on March 17 a Gallium Nitride (GaN) Power ICs, using its proprietary AllGaN™ monolithically-integrated 650V platform. The half-bridge combines GaN power FETs with GaN logic and drive circuits. Though it is not the first GaN IC – EPC has introduced a monolithically integrated half-bridge (< 100 V) last year, it is the first high-voltage GaN IC. “The last time power electronics experienced a dramatic improvement in density, efficiency and cost was in the late 70's when Silicon MOSFETs replaced bipolar transistors, enabling a transition from linear regulators to switching regulators. A 10x improvement in density, 3x reduction in power losses and 3x lower cost resulted a short time thereafter. A similar market disruption is about to occur in which GaN power ICs will enable low-frequency, silicon-based power systems to be replaced by high-frequency GaN“, commented CEO Gene Sheridan.

“GaN has tremendous potential to displace Silicon in the power electronics market given its inherent high-speed, high-efficiency capabilities as a power FET,” says Dan Kinzer, Navitas CTO & COO. “Previously, that potential was limited by the lack of equally high performance circuits to drive the GaN FETs quickly and cost effectively. With monolithic integration of GaN drive and logic circuits with GaN power FETs, we have opened a path to cost-effective, easy-to-use, high-frequency power system designs.” He will introduce the AllGaN platform and GaN Power ICs in a keynote titled “Breaking Speed Limits with GaN Power ICs” at the APEC plenary session next Monday (see our events).

Navitas Semiconductor Inc. is the world’s first GaN Power IC company, founded in El Segundo, CA, USA in 2013. Navitas has a strong and growing team of power semiconductor industry experts (mainly former International Rectifier semiconductor experts) with a combined 200 years of experience in materials, circuits, applications, systems and marketing, plus over 125 patents among its founders. Over 25 Navitas proprietary patents are granted or pending. Co-Founder and CEO Gene Sheridan was recently with Empower, BridgeCo AG and as a technology industry executive, recently as VP of the Computing, Communications and Consumer Business Unit at International Rectifier prior to the Infineon acquisition. Dan M. Kinzer is also a Co-Founder of Navitas Semiconductor, Inc. He served as CTO at Fairchild Semiconductor previously. More in our upcoming print and on-line issue. AS

www.navitassemi.com