Origin of Soft-Switching Output Capacitance Loss in Cascode GaN HEMTs at High Frequencies

Song, Qihao; Zhang, Ruizhe; Li, Qiang; Zhang, Yuhao

doi:10.1109/tpel.2023.3299977

Origin of Soft-Switching Output Capacitance Loss in Cascode GaN HEMTs at High Frequencies

Journal Article · Mon Jul 31 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/tpel.2023.3299977· OSTI ID:2441268

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Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States); Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)

Output capacitance (C_OSS) loss (E_DISS) is produced when the C_OSS of a power device is charged and discharged, which ideally should be a lossless process. This loss was recently revealed to be a crucial concern for GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) in high-frequency soft-switching applications. Among various GaN devices, the composite-type, cascode GaN HEMT was reported to show the largest E_DISS with a voltage dependence distinct from discrete GaN HEMTs. However, the physical origins of the EDISS in cascode GaN HEMTs remain unclear. This work fills this gap by identifying three loss components and, for the first time, experimentally quantifying them in the multi-MHz resonant switching. These loss components include a) the avalanche loss of Si MOSFET, b) the intrinsic E_DISS of GaN HEMT, and c) the Si avalanche-induced GaN turn-ON loss. The last component was found to dominate E_DISS at high voltage. By eliminating the Si avalanche and the associated loss components (a) and (c), the E_DISS of cascode GaN HEMTs can be reduced by up to 75% at the price of an increase in output charge and switching transition time. Furthermore, these results provide new physical insights and practical guidelines to trim the soft-switching loss of cascode GaN HEMTs in high-frequency applications.

Research Organization:: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Grant/Contract Number:: EE0006521

OSTI ID:: 2441268

Journal Information:: IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, Journal Name: IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 38; ISSN 0885-8993

Publisher:: IEEECopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
Cascode
GaN HEMT
output capacitance losses
resonant converter
soft-switching

Origin of Soft-Switching Output Capacitance Loss in Cascode GaN HEMTs at High Frequencies

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