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

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 degrees C to 250 degrees C). Furthermore, a 100 kHz, 5 V/11 V (V-IN/V-OUT) boost converter prototype with the proposed monolithic integration design was built and found to operate successfully under high temperatures (HTs) up to 250 degrees C. These results validate the advantages of GaN-based monolithic integration techniques in achieving HT, high power density, and high efficiency power converters. (C) 2019 The Japan Society of Applied Physics