Design and Evaluation of Cascode GaN FET for Switching Power Conversion Systems

摘要

In this paper, we present the design and characterization analysis of a cascode GaN field-effect transistor (FET) for switching power conversion systems. To enable normally-off operation, a cascode GaN FET employs a low breakdown voltage (BV) enhancement-mode Si metal-oxide-semiconductor FET and a high-BV depletion-mode (D-mode) GaN FET. This paper demonstrates a normally-on D-mode GaN FET with high power density and high switching frequency, and presents a theoretical analysis of a hybrid cascode GaN FET design. A TO-254 packaged FET provides a drain current of 6.04 A at a drain voltage of 2 V, a BV of 520 V at a drain leakage current of 250 μA, and an on-resistance of 331 mΩ. Finally, a boost converter is used to evaluate the performance of the cascode GaN FET in power conversion applications.