A 12 to 1 V five phase interleaving GaN POL converter for high current low voltage applications

Abstract

As applications like high performance cloud computing grow exponentially, there is an immediate need for high efficiency high current point of load (POL) converters. Interleaving phases is a common technique to reduce conduction loss, lower output ripple, improve high load performance, and reduce stress on power switching devices. However, multiphase POLs are primarily limited by size. The development of Gallium Nitride (GaN) power semiconductors is enabling higher power density in power supply applications. This paper demonstrates this with a 120 W five-phase interleaving GaN synchronous buck converter that achieves a peak efficiency above 96% and maintains over 90% efficiency up to 105 A.