Next Generation of GaN Single-Board High Power Stages

Insulated metal substrate (IMS) boards have been widely used in industry for their remarkable electrical and thermal performance. However, the IMS boards require a separate driver board that affects the power density. With Gallium Nitride enhancement-mode high electron mobility transistors (GaN E-HEMTs) being adopted in modern power converters, power density is becoming critical more than ever. This paper proposes the next generation of single-board IMS power stages (i.e., IMS4). In this board, the power board and the driver board are embedded into a single board. Furthermore, a CerStrate™ ceramic substrate single-board solution is proposed that maintains the exact electrical specifications as observed in IMS4 and significantly enhances the thermal performance. The superiority of these single-board solutions is verified through finite element analysis (FEA) simulations and experiments.