ACFJ-3262
Nexperia GAN039-650NBB Half-Bridge Evaluation Board

Reference Manual
Version 1.0

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ACFJ-3262-NexperiaGaN-RM100
June 9, 2021

ACFJ-3262 Reference Manual

Nexperia GAN039-650NBB Half-Bridge Evaluation Board

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Nexperia GAN039-650NBB Half-Bridge Evaluation Board

Table of Contents
ACFJ-3262: Nexperia GAN039-650NBB Half-Bridge Evaluation Board Reference Manual ......... 4
1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................4
1.1 GaN Power Semiconductor .................................................................................................................................4
1.2 Design Features...................................................................................................................................................5
2 Board Description ........................................................................................................................................................6
2.1 Functional Block Diagram ....................................................................................................................................6
2.2 Pin Assignment ....................................................................................................................................................7
3 Circuit Description .......................................................................................................................................................9
3.1 Input Connector and Power Supply Circuit ..........................................................................................................9
3.2 Gate Driver Circuit .............................................................................................................................................10
3.3 GaN FET Circuit.................................................................................................................................................10
4 Buck and Boost Configurations ...............................................................................................................................11
5 Switching Waveforms and Efficiency Test ..............................................................................................................12
6 Schematics, Layout, and BOM..................................................................................................................................14
Revision History............................................................................................................................................................ 19
Version 1.0, June 9, 2021 .........................................................................................................................................19

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Nexperia GAN039-650NBB Half-Bridge Evaluation Board

ACFJ-3262: Nexperia GAN039-650NBB Half-Bridge Evaluation
Board Reference Manual
1 Introduction
1.1 GaN Power Semiconductor
The Gallium Nitride (GaN) power semiconductor is rapidly emerging into the commercial market delivering huge benefits
over conventional Silicon-based power semiconductors. GaN can improve overall system efficiency with lower on-resistanceand the higher switching capability can reduce the overall system size and costs. The technical benefits coupled with lower
costs have increased the fast adoption of GaN power semiconductors in applications, such as industrial power supplies andrenewable energy inverters.
Broadcom gate drive optocouplers have been used extensively in driving Silicon-based semiconductors, such as IGBT. This
document describes how the gate drive optocoupler, ACFJ-3262, can be used to drive GaN FET.
The half-bridge evaluation board features ACFJ-3262, 10A dual-channel gate drive optocoupler, and Nexperia’s
GAN039-650NBB FET. The half-bridge evaluation board enables the basic study of the switching characteristics andefficiency, by means of configuring for synchronous rectification, in either buck or boost mode. The high-voltage input andoutput operates at up to 400 VDC, with the current limit of the inductor at 15A to 16A, depending upon cooling, ambient
temperature, and switching frequency.
Figure 1: ACFJ-3262 Nexperia GAN039-650NBB Half-Bridge Evaluation BoardGaN FET
GAN039-650NBB

Gate Drive
Optocoupler
ACFJ-3262

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1.2 Design Features
The ACFJ-3262 Nexperia GAN039-650NBB half-bridge evaluation features one ACFJ-3262 gate drive optocoupler and two
Two GAN039-650NBB GaN FETs.
One ACFJ-3262 gate drive optocoupler
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10A peak (typical), rail-to-rail output
Separate source and sink outputs
95-ns max. propagation delay
100-kV/µs min. common mode rejection (CMR) at VCM = 1000 V
8.6V UVLO with hysteresis
Wide operating VDD Range: 10V to 25 V
Wide automotive temperature range: –40°C to 125°C
Dual channel in SO-24 package
CTI > 600V
Greater than 2.8-mm channel-to-channel separation
Safety approvals:– UL Recognized 5000 VRMS for 1 minute– CSA– IEC/EN/DIN EN 60747-5-5 VIORM = 1230 VPEAK

Two GAN039-650NBB GaN FETs
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Simplified driver design as standard level MOSFET gate drivers can be used:– 0V to 12V drive voltage– Gate threshold voltage VGSth of 4V
Robust gate oxide with ±20V VGS ratingHigh gate threshold voltage of 4V for gate bounce immunity
Low body diode Vf for reduced losses and simplified dead-time adjustments
Transient over-voltage capability for increased robustness
CCPAK package technology:– Improved reliability, with reduced Rth(j-mb) for optimal cooling– Lower inductances for lower switching losses and EMI– 175°C maximum junction temperature– High board-level reliability absorbing mechanical stress during thermal
cycling, unlike traditional QFN packages– Visual (AOI) soldering inspection, no need for expensive X-ray equipment– Easy solder wetting for good mechanical solder joints

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2 Board Description
2.1 Functional Block Diagram
The evaluation board has a half-bridge topology as shown in Figure 2. Two pairs of high voltage ports, J2/J3 and J5/J7 serve
as either high-voltage input or output, depending on whether it is buck or boost configuration. In either case, one GaN FET
acts as the active power switch while the other carries the freewheeling current. The latter device may be enhanced as asynchronous rectifier as well. With GaN FETs, the reverse recovery charge is low, and there is no need for additional
freewheeling diodes.
The high-side and low-side PWM signals are connected to connector P1, which is used to drive the LEDs of ACFJ-3262
directly.
An inductor is provided as a starting point for investigation. This is a 330-µH toroid intended to demonstrate a reasonable
compromise between size and efficiency with the current limited at 15A to 16A and at a switching frequency of 100 kHz.
Figure 2: Half-Bridge Evaluation Board Functional Block Diagram

Insulation

12V

Optional DC-DC
Converter

P1

+HVDC

+HVDC

12V
+
High SidePWM Signal
AN_H/CA_H

FerriteBead

Anode High

Anode Low

User
Interface
Connector

J3High Voltage
Buck Input/
Boost Output

Cathode HighBootstrap Diodeand Resistor

Low SidePWM Signal
AN_L/CA_L

Q1
GAN039-650NBBJ2J5Inductor Load+High Voltage
Buck Output/
Boost Input

Q2
GAN039-650NBB

Cathode Low
ACFJ-3262

J7

12V
Optional DC-DC
Converter

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Figure 3: Functional Block Disposition on the Evaluation Board

Low Side
DC-DC
Converter

P1

ACFJ-3262
High SideDC-DC
Converter

Q2
Q1

Inductor
Load

J2

J5

J7
J3

2.2 Pin Assignment
Pin assignment for P1 connector is shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Pin Assignment of Connector P1 (User Interface Connector)
Label

Function

Direction

DC12VIN

12V power supply. If the DC-DC converter is not used, the 12V input can be applied either at P1 or J1, Input
and R8 and R9 populated with 0Ω for the low side supply. The high side supply can then be derived fromthe bootstrap circuit, D1 and R4. Alternatively, the 12V can also be used with DC-DC converter
MGJ1D121505MPC-R7 to provide isolated power supply.

NC

No connection.

N/A

GND

Reference ground for the 12V power supply.

Input

NC

No connection.

N/A

AN_L

5V PWM input signal for the low side driver. Connects to the anode of the low side gate driver.

Input

NC

No connection.

N/A

CA_L

Reference ground for the low side driver PWM input signal. Connects to the cathode of the low side gate Input
driver.

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Table 1: Pin Assignment of Connector P1 (User Interface Connector) (Continued)
Label

Function

DirectionNC

No connection.

N/A

AN_H

5V PWM input signal for the high side driver. Connects to the anode of the high side gate driver.

Input

NC

No connection.

N/A

CA_H

Reference ground for the high side driver PWM input signal. Connects to the cathode of the high sidegate driver.

Input

NC

No connection.

N/A

Pin assignment for P2, gate driver power supply connector is shown in Table 2. There is no connection needed if DC-DC
converters are used.
Table 2: Pin Assignment of Connector P2_L for Gate Driver, ACFJ-3262 Power Supply
Label

Function

Direction

P2_L, VDDL

Output stage low side power supply. Recommended 10V to 12V for the VGS of the GaN FET. The high Input
side supply can then be derived from the bootstrap circuit, D1 and R4. DC-DC converters
MGJ1D121505MPC-R7 are not needed if this power supply scheme is used.

P2_L, PGND

Reference ground for the output stage low side power supply.

Input

High voltage BUS and Load connections are shown in Table 3.
Table 3: High Voltage BUS (+HVDC and –HVDC) and Load Connection
Label

Function

Direction

J2(+HVDC), J5

High voltage input for Buck mode or high voltage output for Boost mode. The high voltage input andoutput can operate at up to 400VDC.

Input/Output

J3, J7

Reference ground for the high voltage input or output.

Input/Output

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3 Circuit Description
The schematic of the half-bridge evaluation board is shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4: Schematic of the Half-Bridge Evaluation Board

3.1 Input Connector and Power Supply Circuit
P1 is the 12 pins input connector that interfaces to the 12V supply and PWM signals.
In the standard setup where the DC-DC converter is not used, the 12V input can be applied either at P1 or J1, and R8 andR9 populated with 0Ω for the low side supply. The high side supply can then be derived from the bootstrap circuit, D1 andR4. Alternatively, the external isolated 12V supply can also be connected to P2_L. In this case, there is no connectionneeded for DC12V_In at P1, and R8 and R9 should not be populated. Bootstrap power supply can then be used for the highside gate driver using bootstrap diode D1 and resistor R4.
For DC-DC converter setup, the 12V DC power supply can be connected to DC12V_In (Pin1) and GND (Pin 3) to provide
isolated power supply to the secondary side through U2_L and U2_H. The Murata MGJ1D121505MPC-R7 is a 12V to+15V/–5V DC-DC converter and TLV76012DBZR is a 12V linear voltage regulator. They are used to provide 12V isolated
supply to the high and low side gate driver optocoupler, U1.

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3.2 Gate Driver Circuit
The half-bridge evaluation board uses a dual-channel gate drive optocoupler U10, ACFJ-3262 to drive the GaN FETs
directly. The ACFJ-3262 is a basic gate driver optocoupler used to isolate and drive the GaN FETs. It has a rail-to-rail output
with 10A maximum output current to provide fast switching high voltage and driving current to turn-on and off the GaN
efficiently.
The ACFJ-3262 has a propagation delay of less than 95 ns. The very high CMR, common mode rejection of 100 kV/µs(min.)is required to isolate high transient noise during the high frequency operation from causing erroneous outputs. It is certified
by UL1577 for up to VISO 5000VRMS/min and IEC 60747-5-5 for working voltage, VIORM up to 1230VPEAK.
The LED inputs of the gate driver use a split resistor network of 120Ω at the anode and cathode. This is to balance the input
impedance of the LEDs to achieve the high CMR of 100 kV/µs.
The ACFJ-3262 has a UVLO threshold voltage of 8.6V, suitable for 10V to 12V gate operation of the GaN FETGAN039-650NBB. It has dual output, VOutP1 and VOutP2 to control the turning on and off of the GaN FET using external
15Ω gate resistors, Rgon and Rgoff. With the 12V supply, this translates to approximate 0.8A peak current to the gate of the
GaN FET.
Ferrite beads, FBL and FBH must be fitted in series with the gate of the GaN FET and should be located as close as possible
to the gate pin. Keep the gate-source loop as compact as possible to minimize the gate loop inductance. The Ferrite bead
damps the resonant circuit made up of the gate source loop inductance and the GaN FET input capacitance, thus providing
fast switching stability. Use BLM18PG300SN1D with an impedance of 30Ω at 100 MHz.
14V TVS diodes D9 and D10, can be used to clamp and protect the gate of the GaN FET and gate driver output. However,the GaN FET does not require this diode for normal operation. The TVS diode must be selected carefully to prevent adverse
effect to the switching performance.

3.3 GaN FET Circuit
The half-bridge evaluation board uses two GaN FETs, Q1 for the high side switch and Q2 for the low side switch. The
GAN039-650NBB is a 650V, 33-mΩ normally-off GaN FET that combines Nexperia’s latest high-voltage GaN HEMT H2technology and low-voltage silicon MOSFET technologies in a CCPAK1212 package.
Use a DC-link snubber, which consists of R17/R18/R19 and C33/C34/C35 to lower the Q factor of any resonance in the
HVDC bus. That resonance acts as a load on the high-gain amplifier, which is the GaN FET and can lead to instability. The
remaining capacitors, C4-6/C17/C24.C36–16 are high-frequency DC-link components, placed very close to the GaN FETs
for fast switching half-bridge operations.

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4 Buck and Boost Configurations
The buck and boost configurations are shown in Figure 5 and Figure 6. For buck mode, the HVDC input, J2/J3, is connectedto the high-voltage input supply, and the output is taken from J5/J7. For boost mode, the high-voltage input supply isconnected to J5/J7, and the output is taken from J2/J3.
Note that in boost mode, a load must be connected. The load current affects the output voltage up to the transition fromdiscontinuous conduction mode (DCM) to continuous conduction mode (CCM). In buck mode, the load may be an open
circuit. In the case of buck mode with no load, the ripple current in the inductor is symmetric about zero, and the soft switching
behavior of the GaN FETs may be studied.
Figure 5: Schematic of the Half-Bridge Evaluation Board for Buck Mode
+HVDC

+HVDC
+

12V
High Side PWM Signal
VPWM, DC=Duty Cycle

Ferrite
Bead

J2

+
_

High Voltage
Input, VIN

L
O
A
D

Buck Output
VOUT = DC x VIN

L
O
A
D

Boost Output
VOUT = VIN / (1- DC)+_

High Voltage
Input, VIN

J3

Q1
GAN039-650NBB

J5
12V
Q2
GAN039-650NBB

Low Side PWM Signal
VPWM+

ACFJ-3262

J7

Figure 6: Schematic of the Half-Bridge Evaluation Board Boost Mode

+HVDC
+HVDC
+
12V
High Side PWM Signal
VPWM

Ferrite
Bead

J2

J3

Q1
GAN039-650NBB

J512V
Low Side PWM Signal
VPWM, DC=Duty Cycle

Q2
GAN039-650NBBACFJ-3262

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J7

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Nexperia GAN039-650NBB Half-Bridge Evaluation Board

5 Switching Waveforms and Efficiency Test
Figure 7: Multiple Pulse Tests at 400V BUS Voltage and Drain Current Stepped to 60A

Vgate=12V

IDS=60A

VDS =400V

Figure 8: Switching Off at 28A

Switching off, dv/dt =58kV/us
Vgate

VDS

IDS=28A

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Figure 9: Switching On at 60A

Switching on, dv/dt =45kV/us
VDS
Vgate

IDS=60A

Figure 10: Efficiency Sweep for Buck Conversion from 400V to 230V

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6 Schematics, Layout, and BOM
This section provides full schematics, layout, and bill of materials of the half-bridge evaluation board. This information
enables customers to modify the design according to specific requirements.
Figure 11: Schematic of the Half-Bridge Evaluation Board

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Figure 12: Top Level and Assembly Drawing

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Figure 13: Signal Layer 1

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Figure 14: Signal Layer 2

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Figure 15: Bottom Layer

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ACFJ-3262 Reference Manual

Nexperia GAN039-650NBB Half-Bridge Evaluation Board

Revision History
Version 1.0, June 9, 2021


Initial document release

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