Design of a compact, ultra high efficient isolated DC-DC converter utilizing GaN devices

Wide band gap semiconductor devices have a promising future in various power converter applications due to their higher performance characteristics such as high frequency, high voltage and high operating temperature. For power switching applications, wide band gap materials mainly Silicon Carbide (SiC), Gallium Nitride (GaN) and Diamond are attractive. In this paper, the detailed design analysis for an ultra-high efficient (about 99%), 1.7 kW, 50 kHz, 130V to 48V isolated dc-dc converter along with the prototype model is presented and discussed. The converter is designed with a synchronous rectifier stage for efficiency improvement. Furthermore, it discusses the usage of gallium nitride switches in power converter application to improve the overall converter efficiency.