Research Projects

The use of wide-bandgap semiconductors would vastly enhance the efficiency of power electronics – a critical national need from both the energy security and climate change perspectives. Here we propose to design and assemble power electronic interfaces based on gallium-nitride (GaN) high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMT). GaN-HEMT devices will be procured externally, followed by characterization and model development at IIT Bombay (IITB). These in-house device models would be taken as inputs for the design of power electronic interfaces, which would finally be fabricated here. The novelty envisaged here is device-system co-design: coupling between device characterization and modeling on one side, and power electronic system design on the other. The deliverable would be the demonstration of a GaN-HEMT based 600V DC-DC Photovoltaic (PV) power converter as a proof-of-concept. Commercialization of this and allied GaN-HEMT based power-switching solutions, for applications such as renewables, electric vehicles and strategic electronics, will be pursued thereafter via the transfer-of-technology and start-up routes.