SmartGan™ DA8801 providing monolithic integration of GaN power FETS together with analog drivers and logic in an optimized, highly efficient 650 V half-bridge design
Dialog Semiconductor announced and is demonstrating its first gallium nitride (GaN) power IC product offering, using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation’s (TSMCs) 650 Volt GaN-on-Silicon process technology.
The DA8801 together with Dialog’s patented digital Rapid Charge™ power conversion controllers will enable more efficient, smaller, and higher power density adapters compared to traditional Silicon field-effect transistor (FET) based designs today. Dialog is initially targeting the fast charging smartphone and computing adapter segment with its GaN solutions, where it already enjoys more than 70 percent market share with its power conversion controllers.
“The exceptional performance of GaN transistors allows customers to deliver more efficient and compact power adapter designs that meet today’s market demands,” said Mark Tyndall, SVP Corporate Development and Strategy, Dialog Semiconductor. “Following our success in BCD-based power management ICs (PMICs), as an early GaN innovator, Dialog once again leads the commercialization of a new power technology into high-volume consumer applications.”
GaN technology offers the world’s fastest transistors, which are the core of high-frequency and ultra-efficient power conversion. Dialog’s DA8801 half-bridge integrates building blocks, such as gate drives and level shifting circuits, with 650 V power switches to deliver an optimized solution that reduces power losses by up to 50 percent, with up to 94 percent power efficiency. The product allows for a seamless implementation of GaN, avoiding complex circuitry, needed to drive discrete GaN power switches.
The new technology allows a reduction in the size of power electronics by up to 50 percent, enabling a typical 45 Watt adapter design today to fit into a 25 Watt or smaller form factor. This reduction in size will enable true universal chargers for mobile devices.
The DA8801 will be available in sample quantities in Q4 2016.
