12V/48V Bidirectional DC/DC Converter with GaN HEMT

Renesas' system solution for 48V Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicles (MHEV) and electric motorcycles uses high-efficiency 12V/48V DC/DC converters. The solution allows for a reduction of the PCB area by 46%. This is achieved by using Gallium Nitride (GaN) High-Electron-Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) with excellent switching characteristics, enabling a high-efficiency power conversion with a high switching frequency of 500kHz and small 1.3µH inductors.

System Benefits​:

• Automatic phase drop function achieves highly efficient power conversion even at low loads, exceeding 94% power efficiency over a wide load range of 400W to 3kW
• PWM controller eliminates the need for complicated DC/DC converter control software development​
• Half-bridge driver enables driving GaN HEMT devices​
• Adaptive dead time function automatically adjusts the dead time for optimal control​
• MCU supports mode setting and status monitoring of DC/DC converters through the CAN FD