Design and Evaluation of GaN-Based Dual-Phase Interleaved MHz Critical Mode

PFC Converter
Zhengyang Liu, Xiucheng Huang, Mingkai Mu, Yuchen Yang, Fred C. Lee, Qiang Li
Center for Power Electronics Systems
The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, VA 24061 USA

Abstract— This paper presents the design consideration and Combining the merits of CRM PFC converter and high
performance evaluation of gallium nitride (GaN) high electron voltage GaN HEMT, a GaN-based PFC converter is able to
mobility transistor (HEMT) based dual-phase interleaved MHz be built in several MHz operating frequency. Then the
critical conduction mode (CRM) power factor correction (PFC) important impact of GaN-based MHz PFC is expected to be
converter. A 1.2kW 1-3MHz interleaved boost PFC converter
significant size reduction of inductor and EMI filter and, as a
prototype is built with 97.9% peak efficiency and 120W/in3
power density. The significant impact of MHz frequency is
result, dramatically improvement of the power density.
demonstrated as dramatically size reduction of boost inductor In this paper, the high frequency capability of high-voltage
and electro-magnetic interference (EMI) filter. Several inductor GaN HEMT is first discussed in section II. CRM is selected
designs are discussed. The corner frequency of EMI filter is as a good candidate for the GaN-based PFC converter. Next,
pushed to several hundreds of kHz. Finally, the limitation of design and evaluation of dual-phase interleaved MHz CRM
conventional boost PFC converter is discussed as high boost PFC converter are discussed in section III including
conduction loss on diode rectifier bridge and high switching loss detailed design consideration, experimental results, different
caused by valley switching, which is negligible in other low inductor design comparison, and important MHz impact on
frequency PFC converter but significant in MHz PFC converter. EMI filter. Finally, limitations of conventional boost PFC
The totem-pole bridgeless PFC converter is introduced to
further improve the efficiency with no rectifier bridge and zero-
converter are analyzed and totem-pole bridgeless PFC
voltage switching (ZVS) extension strategy. converter with ZVS extension strategy is introduced as a
promising candidate for further efficiency improvement.
I. INTRODUCTION
II. HIGH FREQUENCY CAPABILITY OF GAN HEMT
The critical conduction mode (CRM) boost power factor
correction (PFC) converters are widely used in off-line power Recently, high voltage depletion mode GaN HEMTs in
supplies due to its merits of zero-current switching (ZCS) cascode structure are becoming available and popular due to
turn off of the diode and zero-voltage switching (ZVS) or its easy and safe driving, compared to high voltage
valley switching turn on of the main switch [1-3]. By enhancement mode GaN HEMTs. The characterization and
interleaving two CRM boost PFC converters, the ripple of the evaluation of 600V-class cascode GaN HEMT is continued
input and output current and the size of the input differential reported in recent literature. According to comparisons
mode (DM) electromagnetic interference (EMI) filter can be between hard switching and soft switching, it has been
reduced significantly, while the power rating can be extended illustrated that due to the capacitor charge effect and/or
to a higher level [4]. In addition, phase shedding strategy can reverse recovery effect of low voltage Si MOSFET in
be used to improve the light load efficiency. cascode GaN HEMT, and the common source inductance
With the advent of 600V-class gallium nitride (GaN) high effect, there is significantly high switching loss occurring in
electron mobility transistor (HEMT), the converter’s hard-switching turn-on transition [5-7]. As a result, soft
switching frequency is able to be pushed to multi MHz. This switching technics is justified as critical for high-voltage GaN
is a dramatically improvement compared to the high HEMT to achieve high frequency and high efficiency,
frequency capability of a silicon (Si) based power especially when pushing the frequency to multi MHz.
semiconductor device. Previous research has demonstrated In addition, as analyzed in paper [6], attributing to the
that the switching loss is dominant of total loss in MHz unique feature of cascode configuration, there is a current
frequency hard switching condition, and soft switching is still source turn off mechanism existing in cascode GaN HEMTs.
critical to achieve high efficiency for the high voltage GaN So the turn-off switching loss is extremely small even at high
HEMT [5-7]. current turn-off condition (10-15A). Then the use of CRM
soft-switching technics, which has only ZVS turn on but hard
switching turn off for the main switch, is further justified.
This work was supported primarily by the Power Management
Consortium (PMC) in CPES, Virginia Tech

978-1-4799-5776-7/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE 611

 L1 D1

D1 D2 L2 D2
+
CO Load
VIN
-
S1 S2 600V
D3 D4 2.7 inch SiC Diode

Master Slave
Phase Phase
Controller Controller 600V
GaN HEMT
TSW /2 Delay
3.6 inch
Figure 1. Diagram of dual-phase CRM PFC converter
Table 1. Parameters of the PFC converter Figure 3. Prototype of dual-phase MHz PFC converter
Input voltage (RMS) 200~240V Vin
Output voltage 390V
Rated output power 1.2kW
Switching frequency 1~3MHz IL2
Active switch TPH3006PS
Diode C3D10060A
10
IL1
10

(a)
Frequency (MHz)

Frequency (MHz)

5 5
Vin=240V 20%PO
Vin
3 3
(100V/div)
50%PO
Vin=200V VDS_2
100%PO
(100V/div)
1 1
0 1/240 1/120 0 1/240 1/120 IL2 Valley Switching
Time (ms) Time (ms) (10A/div) ZVS

(a) (b) IL1

(10A/div)
Figure 2. Variable frequency in half line cycle with (a) different input
voltage at full output power, (b) 230Vac input and different output power (b) (c)
Figure 4. Experimental waveforms of dual-phase interleaved CRM PFC
at full load, (a) waveform in line cycle, (b) zoom-in waveform when
III. DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF MHZ CRM BOOST PFC vin>1/2Vo, (c) zoom-in waveform when vin<1/2Vo.
CONVERTER Table 2. Testing results of the PFC converter
Input voltage 230Vac
A. Operation Principle Output voltage 380V
Full power 1.2kW
The operation principle of single-phase CRM PFC
Peak efficiency 97.9%
converter is clear described in paper [1]. In a steady state, the Power density 120W/in3
on time ton of the main switch is constant and can be express Input current THD 9.7% @ full load
as Power factor 0.995 @ full load

(1)
where L is the inductance value of boost inductor, Po is the
output power of converter, is the estimated efficiency of
converter, and Vin is the root-mean-square (RMS) value of
the input voltage.
Different with the on time, the switching frequency is Figure 5. Converter efficiency (single phase)
variable related to sinusoidal input voltage as

(2)
For control methods of single-phase CRM PFC converter,
current mode pulse-width modulation (PWM) control and
voltage mode PWM control are commonly used [2]. Since
voltage mode control eliminates the multiplier used to shape
the peak current reference in current mode control, it is
considered as simpler and preferred. Figure 6. Loss breakdown (single phase, full load, averaged in line cycle)
For control of dual-phase interleaved CRM PFC converter, two category, open-loop control methods and close-loop
due to its variable switching frequency nature, the switching control methods [8, 9]. Open-loop control methods have
frequency need to be detected and synchronized all the time. advantage for easy implementation compared to close-loop
So it is always a challenge to achieve good interleaving control methods. Open-loop control methods can also be
between two phases. Many literature are focused on this issue divided into four category according to two different control
and the proposed control methods are usually divided into methods for single-phase CRM PFC converter and

612
 Table 3. Inductor parameters

Inductor 1 Inductor 2
Ferrite Powder
Material Ferroxcube Micrometals
3F45 -2
Shape ER23/3.6/13 T80(20.2/12.6/6.35)
Relative permeability 900 10
Winding 400/44 AWG 400/44 AWG
Turn 12 34
Core loss density (at Vin(t)_peak) 500kW/m3 4000kW/m3
Air gap 1.8mm -
Core loss (at Vin(t)_peak) 1.8W 3.11W
Winding loss (at Vin(t)_peak) 5.2W 0.54W

20mm
23mm

1.8mm
9mm 12mm

23mm 23mm
(a) (b)
Figure 7. Inductor design comparison. (a) inductor 1, (b) inductor 2

(a) (b)
Figure 8. Simulated magnetic field strength in the winding regions of two studied cases, (a) The field penetrating the winding region
in ferrite inductor (case 1), (b) The field penetrating the windng region of powder inductor (case 2)

different synchronization instant between slave phase and The interleaving control is implemented with open-loop
master phase. However, paper [8] has further demonstrated control method and the two phases are in master-slave
that only the one of four methods with current-mode control relationship. It means the master phase works as a stand-
and turn-on instant synchronization is stable no matter duty alone CRM PFC converter while the slave phase always
cycle is smaller or greater than 50%. delays one half switching period compared to the master
So for the dual-phase interleaved MHz CRM PFC converter phase. Current mode control method is adopted for the close-
in this paper, this open-loop control method is used. loop control of each individual phase and the turn-on instant
is synchronized.
B. A Design Example and Its Performance Evaluation
Figure 3 is the prototype of this dual-phase interleaved
A GaN-based dual-phase interleaved MHz CRM PFC MHz CRM boost PFC converter. The footprint is shown in
converter is designed following the aforementioned operation this figure while the thickness is 1.05 inch which is decided
principle and control method. Figure 1 is the circuit diagram by the bulky capacitor for hold-up time and output voltage
while specific design parameters are shown in Table 1. ripple requirement. One of the advantages by pushing
The switching is variable in wide range according to frequency to MHz is the size reduction of boost inductor.
different working conditions. Figure 2(a) shows the variable More analysis about the inductor design is in the next part.
switching frequency in half line cycle with different input The power density of this prototype is achieved 120W/in3.
voltage and full output power. Figure 2(b) shows the variable Figure 4 shows experimental waveforms of interleaved
switching frequency in half line cycle with 230V input dual-phase PFC converter. In these waveforms, the envelop
voltage and different output power. Frequency limit will be of inductor current is in sinusoidal shape; either valley
set at input voltage zero crossing and light load condition. switching or ZVS turn on is achieved depending on the input
The trade-off will be played according to efficiency, input voltage;
current distortion, and EMI.

613
 2
10
Table 4. Tested inductor loss
DCR ACR Core Total
Ferrite Core (400/44) Loss/mW Loss/mW Loss/mW Loss/mW
1
10 Ferrite Core (420/46) Ferrite
304 808 1800 2912
Toriod Powder (400/44) 420/46
Toriod Powder (420/46)
Powder
(ohm)
(ohm)

0 451 570 3110 4131

10
420/46
Rac
R

1
10 420/46
330/46
250/46
-1
10
175/46

-2 0
10 10
5 6 7
10 10 10

Rac (ohm)
Freq (Hz)

Figure 9. Calculated AC winding resistance

the switching frequency is keeping increasing when the input

-1
10

voltage decreasing as depicted in Figure 2; interleaving is

achieved between two phase inductor current.
The efficiency curve of the dual-phase interleaved PFC
-2
10 5 6 7
10 10 10
Freq (Hz)
converter is shown in Figure 5. For further analysis, a loss Figure 10. Calculated AC resistance of different number of strands
breakdown is conducted based on previously developed loss
Table 5. Tested inductor with different number of stands
model [6][7]. Figure 6 shows the loss breakdown results for
DCR ACR Core Total
different input voltage and full load condition. It indicates Loss/mW Loss/mW Loss/mW Loss/mW
that diode rectifier conduction loss and GaN HEMT 170/46 596 513 1800 2909
switching loss due to non-ZVS valley switching are dominant 250/46 428 566 1800 2794
factors. 330/46 362 698 1800 2860
420/46 304 808 1800 2912
C. Inductor Design Comparison
The inductor design for MHz CRM PFC converter is a This is caused by higher field in the winding region, as the
challenge because at MHz frequency the winding loss usually FEA simulation result shown in the figures above. To reduce
increase significantly. Two inductors are made as examples the winding loss, litz wire with finer wire should be used.
shown in Table 3 and Figure 7. The core loss and winding With awg 420/46 litz wire, both AC resistance of the
loss are measured according to the method proposed in paper ferrite and powder core can be reduced at 1MHz, as shown in
[10][11]. Inductor 2 and inductor 3 made with powder core (- Figure 9. The ferrite core has more significant reduction
2 material from micrometals®) have high core loss owing to because its winding loss is more sensitive to the penetrating
the nature of core material. On the contrary, the core loss of field. With finer litz wire, the total inductor of the ferrite is
inductor 1 is smaller, however its winding loss is much lower than the powder core.
higher than the other two inductors although the winding The number of strands of the litz wire should also be
length is much shorter. The significant winding loss of optimized, because the more strands the lower DC loss but
inductor 1 is highly related to the specific inductor structure, higher eddy current loss simply because more copper is
that the winding is embraced closely by the high permeability exposed in the alternating field. Several litz wire with
core material, so that MMF are exerted on a small volume of different number of strands are analyzed and tested.
the winding area. This will cause higher magnetic field So the inductor of lowest loss is the ferrite core with
strength penetrating the winding and higher eddy current loss. 250/46 litz wire is optimal. Its loss at the peak current is less
The large gap also generates more fringing flux, which makes than 2.8W, so the averaged loss over line cycle is even lower.
the eddy current loss even higher. The toroid powder core is D. MHz Impact on EMI Filter Design
embraced by the winding, and the MMF around the winding
is exposed to the free space. So the eddy current loss on the EMI filters are always a bulky part of front-end converters
winding is much lower compared to the ferrite case. to meet international EMI standard. According to EN55022,
The winding loss of litz wire is difficult to calculate very EMI noise has strict limit beginning from 150kHz.
accurately. Here we use the square-field-derivative (SFD) Predictions have been made in literature [13] that when
method [12] to estimate the difference between the ferrite pushing frequency above 400kHz, the required corner
inductor (case 1) and the powder inductor (case 2). frequency continues increasing and the size and weight of
With the simulated field, we can calculate the winding EMI filter keep decreasing.
resistance of the two inductors, as shown in Figure 9. At Figure 11 is the DM noise spectrum in which the red curve
1MHz, the ferrite inductor’s resistance is about 3 times of the is measured DM noise of a single phase MHz CRM PFC
toroid powder inductor’s, although it uses shorter winding. converter at 200Vac input voltage and full output power. The
blue curve is predicted DM noise according to a

614
 Measurement
120 Prediction
EN55022 class B
Amplitude (dB)

quasi peak standard

100

80

60

40
100k 1M 10M 100M
Frequency (Hz)
Figure 12. Simulation waveform of ZVS-extension totem-pole PFC
Figure 11. DM noise spectrum

mathematical model proposed in paper [14]. Compared to

EN55022 class B standard, 61dB attenuation is required at
1.06MHz. If typical two stage DM filter is applied, the
corresponding corner frequency is calculated as 183kHz
which is much higher than current industry practice. Detailed
analysis and EMI filter design will be covered by future Figure 13. Interleaved totem-pole PFC converter
publication.
E. Limitation of Conventional Boost PFC Converter
The loss breakdown in Figure 6 indicates that diode
rectifier conduction loss and GaN HEMT switching loss are
two dominant factors. Regarding the rectifier conduction loss,
it can be reduced by one half if any bridgeless PFC converter
is applied. On the other hand, in regard to the switching loss Figure 14. Simulation of interleaved totem-pole PFC converter
caused by non-ZVS valley switching, it is inevitable for CRM
PFC converter when the input voltage is higher than one half Within the region between two dashed black line, the
of the output voltage. The switching loss can be expressed in negative current is increased with the input voltage which is
the following equations, purposely introduced to achieve ZVS. The zoom-in
waveform at the blue line time instant shows that the on-time
(3) of SR is extend so that inductor current goes into negative
and ZVS is achieved.
Figure 13 shows two phase interleaved totem-pole PFC
(4) converter. Figure 14 is simulation waveforms for each phase
inductor current and total input current. Ripple cancellation
Figure 8 shows the distribution of instant loss and half line effect is clearly observed.
cycle averaged loss with different input voltages. Although
the equation is complicated, the trend is clear that such IV. CONCLUSIONS
switching loss is significant and increase with input voltage.
To solve the non-ZVS problem of CRM boost PFC A 1.2kW 1-3MHz GaN-based dual-phase interleaved CRM
converter, totem-pole bridgeless PFC converter, which can boost PFC converter is demonstrated with 97.9% peak
achieve full input voltage ZVS by operating in quasi-square efficiency and 120W/in3 power density. Different Inductor
wave (QSW) mode in certain conditions, is seems a good designs show that inductor loss is high and thus it is one of
candidate. Several papers [15][16][17] have talked about this the challenge for MHz PFC converter design. By pushing
possibility and demonstrated in Si-based totem-pole frequency above 1 MHz, the benefit for EMI filter design is
bridgeless PFC converters. Paper [18] demonstrates a 50kHz significant. As the required corner frequency of EMI filter
frequency CCM hard switching totem-pole PFC reaching has reached hundreds of kHz, dramatic size and weight
99% peak efficiency. The specialty for GaN-based MHz PFC reduction can be projected. Finally, CRM boost PFC has its
converter is that the non-ZVS loss is quickly becoming the limitation that rectifier conduction loss and non-ZVS
most significant loss (Figure 8(b)) which is not often true for switching loss are dominant especially in MHz frequency
Si-based comparatively low frequency PFC converter. range. The totem-pole bridgeless PFC converter is introduced
To solve the non-ZVS issue, quasi-square-wave (QSW) as a promising solution to further improve efficiency by full
mode operation is adopted in the region that the input voltage line ZVS extension strategy. The predicted peak efficiency is
is than one half of the output voltage. Figure 12 shows the above 99% while the switching frequency is more than 1MHz.
simulated line cycle input voltage and current waveform. Hardware demonstration of the totem-pole PFC will be
included in future work.

615
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ZVS Operating at the Boundary of DCM/CCM," Power Electronics,
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