GaN power devices `ten times better than silicon`
The power semiconductor giant International Rectifier has developed a "revolutionary" power device technology based on gallium nitride that, it claims, can perform up to ten times better than silicon-based technologies and will cut energy consumption dramatically in a variety of applications.
The GaN-based power device technology is the result of five years of research and development by IR, based on its proprietary GaN-on-silicon epitaxial technology.
According to IR’s president and CEO, Oleg Khaykin (above), the development "heralds a new era for power conversion, in line with our core mission to help our customers save energy. We fully anticipate the potential impact of this new device technology platform on the power conversion market to be at least as large as the introduction of the power Hexfet by IR some 30 years ago."
