GALLIUM NITRIDE POWER ELECTRONICS IN 2025: STATUS, APPLICATIONS, AND ROADBLOCKS
Keywords:
GaN power devices, GaN HEMT, GaN Power IC, vertical GaN, reliability, packaging, thermal management, on-board chargers, DC–DC converters.Abstract
By 2025, the power electronics based on gallium nitride (GaN) have become standardized with niche applications and mainstream applications, as the intrinsic material properties, such as high electron mobility, high breakdown voltage, and low on-resistance, have enabled this. This paper will present an overview of the present and past of GaN power electronics, device structures, applications and issue of the computer power electronics. The usage of GaN includes consumer chargers, high-density DC to DC converters, on-board chargers to power electric vehicles, and data center power systems with the global market expected to reach USD 3 billion. The most common types of devices are GaN-on-Si HEMTs, monolithic GaN Power ICs, and new vertical GaN devices to be used in high-voltage applications. The paper identifies serious technical issues, such as reliability, thermal management, packaging, parasitic effects, and automotive and industrial standardization. It also discusses the roadblocks like the manufacturing cost, design skill and ecosystem support and also finds close and mid-term opportunities to integrate the system on the system level. The results highlight the capability of GaN in supporting small, efficient, and high-performance power solutions in consumer, automotive and industrial applications.
