News

3rd Edition Gallium-Nitride Textbook Focuses on Power Conversion Applications

October 02, 2019 by Paul Shepard

Efficient Power Conversion Corporation (EPC) announces the publication of the third edition of “GaN Transistors for Efficient Power Conversion,” a textbook written by power conversion industry experts and published by John Wiley and Sons.

This textbook is designed to provide power system design engineering students, as well as practicing engineers, basic technical and application-focused information on how to design more efficient power conversion systems using gallium nitride-based transistors.

Gallium nitride (GaN) is leading edge technology that is displacing the venerable silicon MOSFET in power conversion applications. As silicon approaches its performance limits, GaN devices offer superior conductivity and switching characteristics, allowing designers to greatly increase efficiency, and reduce size, weight, and cost.

This timely third edition has been substantially expanded to keep students and practicing power conversion engineers ahead of the learning curve in GaN technology advancements and emerging applications. This book serves as a practical guide for understanding basic GaN transistor construction, characteristics, and a wide range of applications. Included are:

  • Discussions on the fundamental physics of these power semiconductors
  • Practical guidance on layout and other circuit design considerations
  • Application examples employing GaN including lidar for autonomous vehicles, dc-dc power conversion, RF envelope tracking used in 5G communication networks, wireless power, class-D audio, and high radiation environments

According to Dr. Fred C. Lee, Director, Center for Power Electronics Systems at Virginia Tech, “This book is a gift to power electronics engineers. It offers a comprehensive view, from device physics, characteristics, and modeling to device and circuit layout considerations and gate drive design, with design considerations for both hard switching and soft switching. Additionally, it further illustrates the utilization of GaN in a wide range of emerging applications.”

GaN Transistors for Efficient Power Conversion is published by John Wiley and Sons and is available for immediate purchase at Amazon.

About the Authors

Collectively, the authors have over ninety years of experience working in power transistor design and applications. All four authors have doctorates in scientific disciplines and are widely recognized published authors. They are pioneers in the emerging GaN transistor technology, with Dr. Alex Lidow concentrating on transistor process design and Drs. Michael DeRooij, Johan Strydom and David Reusch, and John Glaser focusing on power transistor applications.