LED Lighting System using Gallium Nitride FETs

  • Authors: S. Bandyopadhyay, F. Yaul, A. P. Chandrakasan
  • Sponsorship: MIT GaN Energy Initiative

This work focuses on using gallium nitride (GaN) FETs for an LED lighting system. The idea is to utilize the favorable figure of merit provided by the GaN technology to miniaturize the magnetic components in the power converter by using high switching frequencies for the power converter. An LED driver application is chosen because the lighting industry is expected to see substantial growth in the near future with the advent of high-efficiency LEDs. This project will demonstrate a high-efficiency, small form factor LED lighting system with a long lifetime that can replace incandescent bulbs or CFLs. Efforts aim for design and implementation of high power density, off-line, high-frequency power conversion and control circuits.

The drivers are being implemented on a CMOS die. This will directly interface with discrete commercial GaN power devices. Circuits to perform power factor correction and dimming control are also being designed. Since the system will interface directly with the AC mains, an EMI filter is being used with the rectifier. Figure 1 shows the high-level block diagram of the system envisioned.

Figure 1

Figure 1: Block diagram of LED driver.

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