Monolithic integration design of GaN-based power chip including gate driver for high-temperature DC–DC converters

Abstract

Power integration is essential for the fully utilization of advanced GaN devices in power conversion applications due to the reduced parasitic inductance, low on-state resistance, and high-temperature operation. This paper presents a GaN-based monolithic integration design with optimized gate drivers for high-temperature DC–DC converters. Four different gate drivers are experimentally evaluated for integration with boost converters based on enhancement (E)-mode AlGaN/GaN metal–insulator–semiconductor heterojunction-field-effect-transistors (MIS-HFETs). The optimized gate driver, consisting of DCFL (Direct-Coupled FET Logic) inverters and a buffer amplifier, can operate over a wide temperature range (from 25 °C to 250 °C). Furthermore, a 100 kHz, 5 V/11 V (VIN/VOUT) boost converter prototype with the proposed monolithic integration design was built and found to operate successfully under high temperatures (HTs) up to 250 °C. These results validate the advantages of GaN-based monolithic integration techniques in achieving HT, high power density, and high efficiency power converters.