National Semiconductor has introduced a 100V half-bridge gate driver that is optimised for use with GaN power FETs in power converters. The company claims that the LM5113 GaN FET driver is suitable for designing power bricks and communications infrastructure equipment where high power efficiency in a small form factor is required. It also claims that the driver enables designers to reduce circuit and PCB design effort. The 100V bridge driver regulates the high side floating bootstrap capacitor voltage at approximately 5.25V to optimally drive power FETs without exceeding the maximum gate-source voltage rating. It also features independent sink and source outputs for flexibility of the turn-on strength with respect to the turn-off strength. A low impedance pull down path of 0.5Ω provides a swift turn-off mechanism for the low threshold voltage enhancement-mode GaN power FETs. According to the company, the low threshold of the FETs aid in maximising the efficiency in power supply designs. The regulator features an integrated high-side bootstrap diode and provides independent logic inputs for the high-side and low-side drivers. The driver is offered in a 10pin 4x4mm LLP.
