2.5 kW TOTEM POLE PFC CASE STUDY DEMOS ICeGaN EASE-OF-USE AND ROBUSTNESS AT HIGHER POWERS

Cambridge GaN Devices (CGD), the fabless, clean-tech semiconductor company
that develops energy-efficient GaN-based power devices that make
sustainable electronics simpler to design and implement, today announced
that Inventchip, a leading provider of SiC power devices and IC solutions
headquartered in Shanghai, has successfully demo’d a 2.5 kW GaN-based CCM
totem-pole PFC reference design using CGD’s ICeGaN® gallium nitride ICs.
A key feature is ease-of use. ICeGaN ICs integrate interface circuitry and
protection on the same GaN die as the HEMT. Therefore, any standard driver
IC can be used. The Inventchip IVCC1104 totem pole PFC controller IC is
also simple to use with no programming required. It offers optimized AC
zero-crossing control, low THD and high robustness against AC disturbance.

DI CHEN | Director, Technical Marketing and Business Development, CGD

Inventchip had an existing 2.5kW TPPFC reference design based on its
controller and gate drivers using SiC MOSFETs in TO-247 packages. To
evaluate the performance of GaN instead, Inventchip designed a TO-247
adapter board using our P2 25mΩ ICeGaN ICs and the ICeGaN design works
perfectly without any modification of their circuits. It has demonstrated
that the ICeGaN can significantly shorten the learning curve and allow
engineers to bring new product faster to market

DR. ZHONG YE |CTO , inventchip

“By using a TO247-4 adapter board to solder on a DFN-packaged ICeGaN
device for a quick test on our EVM, despite the relatively long gate drive
path and the extended drive power supply trace, the board was powered up
successfully at the first shot with clean switching waveform. No
abnormalities or shoot-through was observed from no-load to full-load
conditions. The GaN’s performance is very impressive.  The CGD GaN device
has proven to be very noise-immune, user-friendly and highly efficient.”

Having proved its efficiency and power density in low power charger
designs, GaN is now being adopted by makers of server and data centre PSUs,
inverters, industrial brick DC/DC converters and LED drivers. Soon, EV
inverter drives of over 100 kW are expected to transition to GaN too.
ICeGaN technology is especially suitable at higher power levels because of
its proven reliability and robustness.

About Cambridge GaN Devices

Cambridge GaN Devices (CGD) designs, develops and commercialises GaN
transistors and ICs enabling a radical step in energy efficiency and
compactness. Our mission is to bring innovation into everyday life by
delivering effortless energy-efficient GaN solutions. CGD’s ICeGaN®
technology is proven suitable for high-volume production, and the company
is rapidly scaling up with manufacturing and customer partnerships in
place. A fabless enterprise, CGD was spun out from Cambridge University,
and its founders, CEO Dr. Giorgia Longobardi, and CTO Professor Florin
Udrea, still retain strong links with the world-renowned High Voltage
Microelectronics and Sensors group (HVMS) at the University. CGD’s ICeGaN
HEMT technology is protected by a strong and constantly growing IP
portfolio, resulting from the company’s commitment to innovation. The
technical and commercial expertise of the CGD team, combined with an
extensive track record in the power electronics market, has been
fundamental to the market acceptance of its proprietary technology.