Navitas Semiconductor, the industry-leader in gallium nitride (GaN) power integrated circuits (ICs) announced its expansion into higher-power markets with the opening of a new Design Center dedicated to bringing next-generation GaN power ICs and associated high-efficiency, high-power-density systems to enable data centers around the world to upgrade from silicon to GaN, thereby significantly improving energy savings, reducing electricity costs and cutting CO2 emissions.
Gallium nitride (GaN) devices are the leading-edge of power semiconductor technology, operating 20x faster than traditional silicon chips. Navitas’ GaNFast™ power ICs integrates GaN power, GaN drive, protection and control. High speed and high efficiency translate into new industry benchmarks in energy savings, high power density, lower cost, and higher reliability.
The new Design Center, based in Hangzhou, China, hosts a highly-experienced team of world-class power system designers with comprehensive capabilities across electrical, thermal and mechanical design, software development, and complete simulation and prototyping capabilities. Data center power customers will be supported worldwide by the new team, from concept to prototype, through to full qualification and mass production.
The Design Center will develop schematics, layouts, and firmware for full-function, productizable data center power supplies. Innovative solutions for the highest power density and highest efficiency will bring the value of GaN into mainstream data centers. Additionally, there will be multiple partnerships created for magnetics, thermal substrates, and other materials to assist customers to optimize their power supply designs.
Navitas estimates that an upgrade from legacy silicon to new GaN could deliver energy savings up to 40%, and save $1.9B/year in data center electricity costs worldwide. Data center supplies are rated to meet tough efficiency criteria, with the extreme ‘Titanium’ grade demanding 96% efficiency at 50% load. These new benchmarks are not only enabled by GaN technology but also demanded by legislation such as the European Union’s ‘Directive 2009/125/EC, 2019 Annex’ which states that data new center power supplies must meet ‘Titanium’ level of efficiency from January 1st, 2023