600 V normally-off p-gate GaN HEMT based 3-level inverter

This paper proposes the development of a fully GaN HEMT based Active Neutral Point Clamped (ANPC) inverter. The main aim is to explore the benefits of the use of such device technology on the system level efficiency, power density and reliability. The paper starts by introducing the inverter topology and the device features, static and dynamic characterisation and continues with presenting and discussing the results of extensive experimental and analytical characterisation. The findings clearly indicate that application of GaN transistors enables unprecedented high performance values, with the possibility to significantly reduce heat-sink size, at the same time operating at very high switching frequencies, while relying on the bidirectional current conduction capability of the transistors to ensure load current freewheeling.