A Generalized Approach to Determine the Switching Lifetime of a GaN FET

Abstract

The determination of switching lifetime for GaN products is a very timely and important topic, both for the assurance of reliable operation in application, and for the development of standardized industry approaches. The challenges faced are the complexity of the switching transition, the dependence of the stress on the application circuit, and the lack of a broad modeling approach. These have prevented the realization of a "develop once, use broadly" methodology. We show, for the first time, an approach that addresses these issues and results in a generalized methodology to determine switching stress and calculate lifetime. The model created directly uses the fundamental stressors of voltage, current and time from the switching waveform. Using this approach, TI GaN product is shown to be highly reliable under applicationuse conditions.