AlGaN/GaN MOSHFET integrated circuit power converter

This work introduces the first step in a version of a wide-bandwidth, frequency-agile power interface that can sit between a simulation environment and real electrical hardware. Silicon (Si) technology is incapable of meeting the extreme switching demands of such a power interface, while gallium-nitride (GaN) technology is best suited for this application. A GaN power cell, in the form of an integrated H-bridge power block, is used as the core element in this new interface to take advantage of the III-V semiconductor material properties, resulting in enhanced operating characteristics. The GaN integrated H-bridge transistors are constructed out of AIGaN/GaN, MOS-Hetero-junction FETs (MOSHFETs). The H-bridge is mounted to an aluminum nitride (AIN) substrate for heat removal via a thermally conducting, electrically insulating, epoxy. This wide bandgap power converter utilizes a high- and low-side driver to modulate the gate-source voltage of each device between +5 V and -12 V. Control for the power converter is provided via a dual output pulse generator. The pulse generator operates open-loop with two outputs to experimentally test the H-bridge in a half-bridge converter topology under different loading conditions.