Benefits of GaN transistors and embedding in PCB laminates

More electrical vehicles, either automotive or aeronautics, should benefit of the electrical performances of GaN power transistors. High-speed switching opens the possibility for higher switching frequency and the consequential benefit on the size of passive components. Efficiency and power density should be improved by overcoming some strong challenges. Reducing the parasitic components within the switching cell is a prime concern. Embedding transistors has been experimented, with a special care given to the issue of thermal management. Multiple chips per switch may be necessary to address medium power applications but paralleling GaN transistors is not straightforward. A multi-phase converter architecture may circumvent the latter problem, as PCB technology is especially suited to managing complex interconnnects. Embedding not only the active devices, but also the passive components may introduce additional degrees of freedom. If a proper design approach is considered and some limitations are reasonably taken into account, combining the advantages of GaN transistors and their embedding technologies is promising solution. The paper proposes a review of the state of art and discusses some specific results to support the pros and cons of mixing GaN transistors and embedding in printed circuit board.