
Dialog enters gallium nitride power market
The SmartGan DA8801 is bult on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation’s (TSMCs) 650 Volt GaN-on-Silicon process technology and integrates GaN power FETs with analogue drivers and logic in a half bridge topology.
Dialog sees the combination of the GaN half bridge and its digital Rapid Charge power conversion controllers enabling more efficient, smaller, and higher power density adapters than traditional silicon field-effect transistor (FET) based designs today. Dialog is initially targeting the fast charging smartphone and computing adapter segment where it has more than 70 percent market share with its power conversion controllers.
“The exceptional performance of GaN transistors allows customers to deliver more efficient and compact power adapter designs that meet today’s market demands,” said Mark Tyndall, SVP Corporate Development and Strategy at Dialog Semiconductor. “Following our success in BCD-based power management ICs (PMICs), as an early GaN innovator, Dialog once again leads the commercialization of a new power technology into high-volume consumer applications.”
The 650 V GaN FETs reduce power losses by up to 50 percent, with up to 94 percent power efficiency, allowing a typical 45 Watt adapter design today to fit into a 25 Watt or smaller form factor. This reduction in size will enable true universal chargers for mobile devices.
“As Dialog’s strategic foundry partner for power management ICs for many years, we are delighted to have expanded our relationship to collaborate closely in bringing our GaN process to the mainstream consumer market for high volume applications,” said Maria Marced, President of TSMC Europe. “Dialog’s first GaN product delivers on the promise of GaN while bringing the integration to a higher level.”
The DA8801 will be available in sample quantities in Q4 2016.
More information on the DA8801 may be found at https://www.dialog-semiconductor.com/products/DA8801
