Characterization and application of 600 V normally-off GaN transistors in hard switching DC/DC converters

As GaN power devices emerge from research to industry, the characterization of these novel devices itself and its application in power electronic converters is essential. The purpose of this paper is to prove the capabilities of GaN technology using a novel 600 V normally-off GaN-on-Si transistor which shows no dynamic behavior of its on-resistance. A hard switching DC/DC converter prototype reveals efficiencies up to 99.3 % and switching frequencies up to 1 MHz incorporating a high power density up to 28 kW/l.