TI expands low-power GaN portfolio

Texas Instruments announces the expansion of its low-power gallium nitride (GaN) portfolio, designed to help improve power density, maximise system efficiency, and shrink the size of AC/DC consumer power electronics and industrial systems.

TI’s overall portfolio of GaN field-effect transistors (FETs) with integrated gate drivers addresses common thermal design challenges, keeping adapters cooler while pushing more power in a smaller footprint.

“Today’s consumers want smaller, lighter and more portable power adapters that also provide fast, energy-efficient charging,” said Kannan Soundarapandian, General Manager of High Voltage Power at TI. “With the expansion of our portfolio, designers can bring the power-density benefits of low-power GaN technology to more applications that consumers use every day, such as mobile phone and laptop adapters, TV power-supply units, and USB wall outlets. Additionally, TI’s portfolio also addresses the growing demand for high efficiency and compact designs in industrial systems such as power tools and server auxiliary power supplies.”

The new portfolio of GaN FETs with integrated gate drivers, which includes the LMG3622, LMG3624, and LMG3626, offers the industry’s most accurate integrated current sensing. This functionality helps designers achieve maximum efficiency by eliminating the need for an external shunt resistor and reducing associated power losses by as much as 94% when compared to traditional current-sensing circuits used with discrete GaN and silicon FETs.

Maximise energy efficiency and simplify thermal design

TI’s GaN FETs with integrated gate drivers enable faster switching speeds, which helps keep adapters from overheating. Designers can reach up to 94% system efficiency for more than 75W AC/DC applications or above 95% system efficiency for more than 75W AC/DC applications. The new devices help designers reduce the solution size of a typical 67W power adapter by as much as 50% compared to silicon-based solutions.

The portfolio is also optimised for the most common topologies in AC/DC power conversion, such as quasi-resonant flyback, asymmetrical half bridge flyback, inductor-inductor-converter, totem-pole power factor correction and active clamp flyback.

Long-term investment in GaN manufacturing

TI has a long history of globally owned, regionally diverse internal manufacturing operations, including wafer fabs, assembly and test factories, and bump and probe facilities across 15 worldwide sites. TI has been investing in manufacturing GaN technology for more than 10 years.

With plans to manufacture more than 90% of its products internally by 2030, TI has the ability to provide customers with dependable capacity for decades to come.

Package, availability, and pricing

• Production quantities of the LMG3622 and LMG3626 and pre-production quantities of the LMG3624 are available for purchase.
• Pricing starts at $3.18 in 1,000-unit quantities.
• Available in an 8mm x 5.3mm, 38-pin quad flat no-lead package.
• Evaluation modules, including the LMG3624EVM-081, start at $250.
• Multiple payment and shipping options are available.

Pin-to-pin devices without integrated current sensing, LMG3612 and LMG3616, are also available.