One of the weaknesses of GaN HEMTs is the low voltage rating of their gates – generally ~6V – leaving them vulnerable to damage from transients, particularly as they need a drive of around 5V to operate.
“Rohm succeeded in raising the rated gate-source voltage from the typical 6V to 8V using an original structure,” according to the company. “This makes it possible to both improve the design margin and increase the reliability of power supply circuits using GaN.”
Little more has been revealed.
Samples of three devices are scheduled for September:
| Drain current | Channel resistance | Gate charge |
| 5A | 40mΩ | 2nC |
| 15A | 15mΩ | 5.4nC |
| 20A | 7mΩ | 11.5nC |
Packaging will be 5 x 6 x 0.9mm DFN5060, in a package created specially for the transistors.
Applications are foreseen in 48V input buck converters for data centres and base stations, power amplifier boost converters in base stations, Class D audio amplifiers, lidar drives and wireless chargers.
Mass production is expected in 2022.