Monolithically Integrated GaN HEMT Bi-Directional Switch (BDS)

Gallium-Nitride (GaN) Bi-Directional Switch (BDS) technology has just recently reached commercial maturity. Three semiconductor companies have fully JEDEC qualified GaN BDS devices commercially available. Meanwhile, Enphase Energy is aiming to introduce to mass-market the first commercially available product to use GaN BDS in the form of their latest IQ9 Photo-Voltaic (PV) microinverter. This paper starts by looking at the historical application for power converter topologies that require the use of BDS devices, then focuses on explaining the unique value proposition for monolithically integrated GaN High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) BDS devices for use in a broad range of low power AC:DC and DC:AC applications.