Introduction to the advantages and disadvantages of GaN chargers and application development

Compared with the continuous upgrading of mobile phones and tablets, accessory chargers have been less popular. However, a new type of gallium nitride technology has attracted a lot of attention to chargers. Gallium nitride chargers are characterized by small size and high efficiency. Manufacturers quickly applied. So what is GaN, and what is the difference between a GaN charger and other chargers?

1. What is gallium nitride

Gallium nitride (GaN) is a compound of nitrogen and gallium with specific semiconductor characteristics. It was used in light-emitting diodes in the early days. It belongs to the same periodic group of elements as commonly used silicon, with high hardness and high melting point, high stability. Gallium nitride material is an important semiconductor material for the development of microelectronic devices. It has the characteristics of wide band gap and high thermal conductivity. It can be used in chargers to adapt to small transformers and high-power devices with high charging efficiency.

2. the advantages and disadvantages of GaN chargers

Advantages: small size and safety

Compared with ordinary semiconductor silicon materials, gallium nitride has a wider band gap and good thermal conductivity, which can match smaller transformers and high-power inductors, so gallium nitride chargers have the advantages of small size, high efficiency, and safety. . In order to achieve faster charging speeds for flagship mobile phones and tablets, the charger power is relatively large, and 40W50W chargers are very common. The larger charging power means that the size of the charger is also getting larger, and the heat is serious.

After switching to gallium nitride technology, the size of the charger can be greatly reduced, and it is very portable. At the same time, the gallium nitride charger can maintain high efficiency and low temperature working conditions, and the safety is better.

Disadvantage: high cost

The main disadvantage of GaN chargers is their high cost. As a new third-generation compound, gallium nitride requires high synthesis environment. In terms of manufacturing process, gallium nitride is not liquid, and the traditional Czochralski method of single crystal silicon cannot be used to pull out the single crystal. It is synthesized purely by gas reaction. It takes half an hour to heat metal gallium in the airflow over 1000 degrees to form powdered gallium nitride, so the cost of gallium nitride chargers is higher, and the price of gallium nitride chargers on the market is also a bit higher than traditional chargers.

3. Application development of gallium nitride charger

Thanks to emerging technologies in the charging industry, gallium nitride chargers have been sought after by digital manufacturers as soon as they appeared, and well-known mobile phone brands and third-party accessory vendors have begun to launch their own gallium nitride chargers.

In addition to C-end consumer electronics, gallium nitride has great potential for applications in the 5G field. The 5G era requires a lot of micro base stations and intermediate devices. These devices also need more efficient power supply capabilities, while gallium nitride chargers are small in size and high in efficiency. The advantages will be obvious.