GaN Systems signs MOU with Cambridge power module design start-up

Transistor maker GaN Systems has signed a memorandum of understanding with QPT, a start-up with patents covering power modules designed using RF techniques to get the best out GaN transistors.

The MOU covers the use of QPT technology and GaN Systems transistors in electric vehicle power converters – in particular: 100kHz to 20MHz hard-switching high-power and high-voltage converters.

“We are impressed with the technologies that QPT has developed,” said GaN Systems’ CEO Jim Witham. “They have unlocked functional improvement in performance, resulting in an optimised GaN solution for the EV market.”

“GaN Systems produces the highest performing 650V power GaN devices, and this allows us to achieve the highest efficiency when combined with our technology,” said QPT founder and CEO Rob Gwynne.

QPT explained its technology thus:

GaN transistors can transition from on to off at 1-2ns instead of 20-50ns for Si and SiC transistors. However, achieving maximum performance is challenging in some high-voltage, high-power applications. QPT’s solution enables the GaN transistors to be run at their full potential of up to 20MHz with nanosecond switching, without RF interference issues or overheating.

It claims to be able to drive a motors with up to 99.7% efficiency at peak load “with hardly any decrease in efficiency at lower loads”. And to be able to shrink a variable frequency drive (VFD) to the point that it can be integrated with the motor.

QPT was established in Cambridge UK in 2020 as an independent power electronics company. It has a video about its modular approach