GaN FET module performance  
advantage over silicon
Narendra Mehta
Senior Systems Engineer, GaN products  
High Voltage Power Solutions
Texas Instruments
Learn how GaN improves energy efficiency, power  
density and solution size in next generation DC/DC  
converters.
Gallium-nitride (GaN) FETs are increasingly finding use as next-generation, high-  
power devices for power electronics systems [1]. GaN FETs can realize ultra-high-  
power-density operation with low power loss due to high carrier mobility in the two-  
dimensional electron gas (2DEG) channel, and high breakdown voltage due to large  
critical electric field. GaN FETs are a majority carrier device, therefore, the absence of  
reverse recovery charge creates a value proposition for high-voltage operation.
Introduction
All these characteristics are suitable for power  
electronics applications featuring reduced power  
loss under high-switching-frequency operation.
With GaN devices now being grown on affordable  
silicon substrates, compared to GaN on sapphire or  
bulk GaN, power GaN FETs will find an increasing  
rate of adoption for highly efficient and form factor  
constrained applications in the 30V and higher  
DC/DC voltage conversion space. In this paper we  
investigate the loss mechanisms in a hard-switched  
DC/DC converter and how a GaN FET power stage  
can outperform Si MOSFETs. In this paper we  
compare a 80V GaN FET power stage to 80V Si  
devices.
A GaN FET power stage device such as the  
LMG5200 is an 80V GaN half-bridge power
module. This device integrates the driver and two  
80V GaN FETs in a 6 mm x 8 mm QFN  package,
optimized for extremely low-gate loop and power  
loop impedance [2]. The inputs are 3V CMOS and  
5V TTL logic compatible. Due to GaN’s intolerance  
for excessive gate voltage, a proprietary clamping  
technique ensures that the gate voltage of the GaN  
FETs is always below the allowed limit. This device  
extends the advantage of discrete GaN FETs by
offering a user-friendly package, which is easy to  
layout and assemble into the final product.
The LMG5200 meets the IPC-2221B and the IEC  
60950 pollution degree 1 clearance and creepage  
requirements without any need for underfill. This  is 
because the minimum spacing between high-  
and low-voltage pins is greater than 0.5 mm. This
eliminates the need for boards to be manufactured  
with underfill and greatly simplifies board design  
and reduces cost. The pin-out also eliminates the  
need for a via-in-pad design as there is adequate  
spacing between the power pins for via placement.
Additionally, this helps in to reduce board complexity  
and cost (Figure 1).
HS
3
HB
2
HI
LI
4
5
LMG5200
6
7
VCC   AGND
 
 
Figure 1. Top-down view of a GaN FET power  
stage device, showing pin-out.
1
VIN
9
8
PGND
SW
GaN  FET  module performance advantage over  silicon
2
Texas  Instruments: March 2015
DC/DC converter losses
In this section we briefly discuss mechanisms that  
cause losses in hard switched converters.
DC/DC converters, the low-side FET has a higher  
amount of conduction loss, which can be  
calculated as:
VIN
High Side Control  
FET
L
VOUT
Low Side Sync
FET
C
Gate Driver
Figure 2. Simplified view of the buck power   stage
P
COND(HS)
R
DS(ONHS)
I
2
RMS(HS)
P
COND(LS)
R
DS(ONLS)
 I2
RMS(LS)
(1)
(2)
, R
DS(ONHS)
is the low-side and
where RDS(ONLS)
high-side FET resistance, and IRMS(LS), IRMS(HS)  
are the low- and high-side RMS currents,  
respectively.
The switching loss (Figure 3) due to the I
DS
and V     overlap is in the high-side of a buck
converter and can be estimated as:
DS
current
 
D
P
SWHS
V    I
IN
OUT
f
SW
t
SW
(3)
IN
SW
is the switching time. This includes the
where t
current commutation time through the FET and  the
time for the FETs drain-to-source voltage to rise /  fall
by V    during turn-off and turn-on, respectively.
The low-side FET does not have any switching  
loss due to zero voltage switching (ZVS) turn-on  
and turn-off. The actual waveforms for inductive
switching are more complicated than those shown in  
Figure 3, however, the error in the calculated loss is  
acceptable as long as the correct switching time is  
used for the turn-on and turn-off.
VDS (VIN)
IOUT
IDS
 
tsw
 
tsw
PLoss
PLoss
Figure 3. Turn-on  and  turn-off losses during inductive switching
In this paper, a synchronous buck converter  
(Figure 2) is used as a DC/DC converter to  
compare the losses in a hard-switched  converter.
The approach for comparing the loss mechanism  
can be applied to other hard-switched converters as  
well. Losses in a switched-mode converter can be  
broadly divided into conduction losses and switching  
losses. The high-side MOSFET dissipates  most
of the switching losses. Conduction losses are a  
function of the duty cycle and are shared between  
the high- and low-side devices. For low-duty  cycle
a) LMG5200 switch node
GaN  FET  module performance advantage over  silicon
3
Texas  Instruments: March 2015
P
RR
fsw •Q
•V 
IN
RR
(4)
Because GaN is a majority carrier device, it does not  
have reverse recovery-based losses.
The body diode of the low-side MOSFET conducts  
during dead time. This causes a power loss in the  
diode associated with the forward voltage of the  
diode. GaN has a higher third quadrant  conduction
voltage (V of 2V at 10A for LMG5200) compared
to ~1V for Si FETs. Hence, the GaN device  exhibits
a higher power loss during dead time. It is critical  
to ensure that the dead time is small in order to  
minimize this loss [4]. The power loss associated  
with the body diode can be calculated as:
SD
P
BD
fsw •V •I
SD
OUT
•  T  
DEADON
 T
DEADOFF
(5)
The energy stored in the output capacitance of the  
MOSFETs is dissipated during turn-on. Since the  
output capacitance is a strong function of the drain-  
to-source voltage, the proper way to calculate this  
power loss PCAP is:
P
CAP
fsw •Q
OSS(VIN )
•V 
IN
(6)
OSS(VIN)
where Q
is the output charge of the MOSFET,
evaluated at the input voltage. GaN devices, due to  
their small output capacitance for the same RDSON  
compared to Si, exhibit a much smaller PCAP loss  
as well.
Gate driver losses are another contributor to  
switching loss. A detailed explanation of losses  
associated with the gate driver can be found in the  
LM5113 application report [5].
Besides the active device-related losses in a hard-  
switched buck converter discussed in this paper,
b) Si7852DP 80v FET   SW     node
Figure 4. Comparison of a GaN FET power stage  
switch-node to silicon switch-node voltage  waveform
The device construction of GaN allows very short,  
switching times due to small gate and output  
capacitance for the same RDSON. As noted in  
Figure 4, switching time for the GaN FET power  
stage is less than 1 ns compared to 6 ns for a
Si FET with a comparable breakdown voltage  
(Si7852DP).
Faster switching edges means the switching  
losses are significantly lowered in the GaN  module
compared to the Si MOSFET-based buck converter.  
Also note that there is minimal overshoot in the GaN  
FET power stage switch-node waveforms due to an  
extremely small (<300 pH) power loop  inductance.
The gate loop and common source inductance  
are also minimized in the GaN FET power stage  
package to be below 200 pH. High parasitic  
inductance in these loops can cause a significant  
power loss [3].
Besides the high-side turn-on and turn-off losses,  
forced commutation of the low-side MOSFETs  
body diode is a significant source of switching loss  
in high-voltage DC/DC converters. This loss is  
primarily due to the reverse recovery charge (QRR)  
in the freewheeling low-side FET. The power loss  
due to reverse recovery is given by:
GaN  FET  module performance advantage over  silicon
4
Texas  Instruments: March 2015
there are losses associated with the inductor. These  
losses include core loss and AC- and DC-winding  
loss, which also should be taken into account when  
calculating system efficiency [6, 7].
Efficiency improvements  
compared to Si
Efficiency vs. Load Current
y
c
n
e
i
c
i
f
f
E
96
94
92
90
88
86
84
82
80
LMG5200, 80V, 1MHz
Si 80V MOSFET, 250kHz
Si, 80V MOSFET, 800kHz
1
2
3
4
5
6
Current (A)
7
8
9
10
Figure 5. LMG5200  vs  Si at different frequencies
Figure 5 shows the efficiency delta between a  
48V:12V LMG5200 buck and 80v Si MOSFET-
based buck. The LMG5200 is switching at 1 MHz  
while the Si-based implementation is switching at  
250 kHz and 800 kHz, respectively. As shown, the  
LMG5200 has higher efficiency versus load than the  
Si solution switching at a lower frequency (1 MHz vs  
800 kHz). This is indicative of the fact that switching  
and conduction losses in the GaN FET power stage  
are much lower compared to the similarly rated Si  
MOSFET. When the Si MOSFET-based converter is  
redesigned for a 250 kHz switching frequency, we  
see higher efficiency for Si designs at light loads as  
expected. However, as the load increases to 4A, the  
GaN FET power stage switching at 1 MHz shows a  
much higher efficiency.
A comparison with Si at 800 kHz shows that the  
efficiency of the GaN FET power stage is much  
higher across a wide load range, even while  
switching at 1 MHz.
)
%
(
 
y
c
n
e
c
i
f
f
i
E
95%
90%
85%
80%
1
Efficiency vs. Load
LMG5200, 1MHz
Si 800kHz
2
4
6
8
10A
Iout (A)
Figure 6. Calculated efficiency comparison between the GaN FET  
power stage design at 1 MHz  and  Si FET   design at 800   kHz
A comparison of the efficiencies observed in the  
hard-switched buck with the calculated results  
indicates that the calculations are within the margin  
of error for the simplified model presented (Figure 6).
Summary
Power GaN FETs, due to their extremely low-  
gate charge and output capacitance, can be
switched at extremely high speeds with significantly  
reduced switching losses and improved efficiency  
compared to silicon FETs. The LMG5200, an 80V  
GaN FET power stage, has been optimized for  
applications requiring high efficiency and/or small  
form factor. Its advanced package greatly simplifies  
manufacturability and board design while reducing  
costs. The LMG5200 can improve the performance  
across a wide variety of applications while reducing  
adoption risk. These applications include multi-MHz  
synchronous buck converters, Class D amplifiers  
for audio, and 48V to POL converters for data  
communications and telecommunications servers.  
GaN FET power stage devices provide significant  
efficiency benefits across a wide load range while  
improving switching frequency and power density.
To  learn more about TI’s GaN solutions, please visit
www.ti.com/GaN.
GaN  FET  module performance advantage over  silicon
5
Texas  Instruments: March 2015
References
1. Lidow, A. Integrated Power Electronics Systems (CIPS),  
2010 6th International Conference, 2010
2. LMG5200 datasheet
3. David Jauregui, Bo  Wang, and Rengang  Chen.
Power Loss Calculation With Common Source Inductance  
Consideration for Synchronous Buck Converters, Application  
Report  (SLPA009A), Texas  Instruments, July 2011
4. Di Han; Sarlioglu, B. Wide Bandgap Power Devices and  
Applications (WiPDA), 2014 IEEE Workshop on DOI:  
10.1109/WiPDA.2014.6964627
5. Narendra Mehta, Design Considerations for LM5113  
Advanced GaN FET Driver During High-Frequency Operation,  
Application Report  (SNVA723), Texas  Instruments,
November 2014
6. Reinert, J.; Brockmeyer, A.; De Doncker, R.W.A.A.  
Calculation of losses in ferro- and ferrimagnetic materials  
based on the modified Steinmetz equation, Industry  
Applications, IEEE   Transactions  on Volume: 37 , Issue: 4
7. Jieli Li; Abdallah, T.; Sullivan, C.R. Improved calculation of  core 
loss with nonsinusoidal waveforms, Industry Applications  
Conference, 2001. Thirty-Sixth IAS Annual Meeting.  
Conference Record  of the 2001 IEEE  Volume:  4
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