Nexperia expands 650 V GaN FET portfolio with multiple RDS(on) classes
Nexperia has announced the expanded portfolio of 650 V industrial-grade high-power GaN FETs for demanding power conversion applications. The portfolio includes devices in 35 mΩ, 50 mΩ and 70 mΩ, offered in industry-standard TO-247-3, TO-247-4, TOLL and TOLT packages. The extended portfolio provides power engineers with greater flexibility to balance efficiency, thermal performance and power density across high-power applications, including datacenter and telecom power supplies, renewable energy systems, battery energy storage (BESS), and industrial drives and automation.
The rapid growth of AI computing is driving rack power supply requirements from sub‑3 kW towards 5–12 kW levels, while renewable energy and industrial electrification trends continue to drive higher switching frequency and efficiency requirements. In this context, wide-bandgap technologies such as GaN are becoming increasingly important for enabling higher efficiency, reduced system size and improved thermal management in next-generation power conversion architectures.
At the system level, these next-generation GaN devices enable engineers to push beyond the performance limits of conventional silicon-based solutions through higher switching frequencies and lower switching and conduction losses. Depending on the application topology and operating conditions, designers can achieve higher power density, improved efficiency, reduced cooling requirements, and lower overall system cost. The increased switching frequency also enables the use of smaller passive components and reduced magnetics size, supporting more compact and scalable power architectures with greater flexibility to optimise performance and footprint.
In high-power LLC stages typical of 10–12 kW AI server PSUs, the use of GaN devices enables ~0.8–1.2% efficiency improvement at full load compared to silicon, while supporting ~40–70% increases in power density at the stage level, driven by higher switching frequencies and reduced passive component size. In a typical 1 kW high-voltage motor drive, GaN devices can reduce inverter power losses by approximately 20–25%, enabling an efficiency improvement of ~1–1.5% while also supporting smaller thermal management solutions and higher overall system power density.
