Gallium nitride power HEMT for high switching frequency power electronics

Very large number of power semiconductor devices (semiconductor power switches) are used in power electronics systems such as AC-DC converter for PCs, DC-DC converters for CPU, motor driver systems and induction heating systems for home appliances, and GaN device is one of a promising candidate for future power devices thanks to the wide band gap semiconductor material property. In GaN base device research, the GaN-HEMT structure is widely investigated than the other device structures specially in RF technology field. This structure also suits to high switching frequency power electronics applications because of the high breakdown voltage and the inherent high speed characteristics of HEMT device. This paper describes the possibility of GaN-HEMT for power electronics applications specially focused on high switching frequency applications comparing the limit of silicon devices such as MOSFETs and IGBTs, and also describes latest research result including demonstration of high switching frequency power electronics circuit.