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characteristics-slide10

Combining all of this information it is possible to derive a set of ideal gate drive characteristics. First, it is important to stay under the 6V maximum gate-source voltage while driving the gate with 4.5V – 5V to maintain low on-resistance. Second, keeping in mind that these devices will switch in less than 5 nano seconds, the designer must be careful to use a layout that has very low parasitic inductance. Third, the fast switching causes the opportunity to falsely trigger the device ON. The higher voltage devices are more sensitive to this than the lower voltage devices. The way to minimize this problem is to provide a gate drive with low-resistance turn-off. Finally, the zero-reverse-recovery of the body diode allows very short pulse widths which can be used to create higher frequency designs than are possible with silicon MOSFETs. In June of 2011, Texas Instruments announced the industry’s first eGaN FET driver, the LM5113. As semiconductor suppliers continue to develop driver ICs specifically optimized for eGaN technology, the task of transitioning from silicon to eGaN FETs will become even more simple and cost effective.

PTM Published on: 2010-10-06