News: Microelectronics
16 August 2022
GaN Systems launches 140W AC/DC charger reference design with USB PD3.1, single-port Type-C output
GaN Systems Inc of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (a fabless developer of gallium nitride-based power switching semiconductors for power conversion and control applications) has announced the availability of a new turnkey 140W AC/DC charger reference design with USB PD3.1, single-port Type-C output.
Compared with silicon-based chargers, the design is reckoned to be 40% lighter and 50% smaller, featuring an ultra-high power density of 23W/in3. This design enhances GaN Systems’ portfolio (65W, 100W, 140W, 250W) of turnkey charger solutions for the consumer electronics market, enabling faster design cycles and continuing the roll-out of smaller, lighter and more powerful and efficient chargers.
The new 140W GaN charger is a complete turnkey solution and includes comprehensive documentation of the fully assembled and tested charger. It offers a cost-effective, high-frequency, two-stage power topology with bridgeless totem pole power factor correction (PFC) and a dual-switch quasi-resonant (QR) flyback topology. The charger reference design uses GaN Systems’ 5mm x 6mm PDFN-packaged GS-065-011-1-L power transistor, resulting in a cost-effective, reduced-component-count and easily customized GaN charger.
Highlighted features include:
- advanced charging technology, supporting the USB PD3.1 fast-charging protocol up to 28V 5A;
- a 50% size reduction, and best-in-class power density 23W/in3;
- high efficiency (higher than 94% peak efficiency).
“Notebooks and laptops are an increasingly essential part of our personal and professional lives and, as a result, demands for portability and mobility continue to increase,” notes Paul Wiener, VP of strategic marketing. “As the workspace definition continues to favor a hybrid model, from office to home, to café and beyond, we want lighter and smaller devices—and chargers have struggled to keep pace,” he adds. “GaN Systems is committed to making GaN easy to use, and the new 140W GaN charger design is another example of this commitment.”
Strong growth in the consumer electronics industry from smartphones, PCs (desktops, notebooks and workstations), and other personal devices is driving demand for chargers. Worldwide sales grew by 6% in smartphones alone, with 1.4 billion phones sold in 2021, and global PC market shipments grew by 15% to 341 million units in 2021, with revenue surpassing $250bn.
GaN transistors allow chargers to operate more efficiently, resulting in significantly less power loss and heat. This enables the system components to be smaller and closer together, resulting in smaller, sleeker chargers with more power than larger models, says GaN Systems. The firm adds that its transistors can be switched at high frequency with maximum efficiency and power density, making them suitable for charging applications.
The new design follows GaN Systems’ announcement of HARMAN’s new InfinityLab InstantCharger 100W, 4 USB GaN charger, which leverages the high-performance advantages of GaN Systems’ transistors.
GaN Systems’ transistors powering HARMAN’s 100W 4-port USB InstantCharger
GaN Systems launches smallest 100W charger reference design
