Renesas 100V GaN FETs are entering production for the power-conversion stages used in AI data centers, robots and industrial systems. The company launched four enhancement-mode gallium nitride transistors on October 6, extending its portfolio from high-voltage rack infrastructure into the lower-voltage circuits that feed processors, motors and other loads.

 

The new family has four defining features:

  • 100-volt enhancement-mode GaN technology
  • Up to 70% lower switching losses than silicon
  • Up to twice the system power density
  • Availability now with evaluation boards

 

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Renesas 100V GaN FETs Target Four Power Designs

The launch covers the RTP100E005G1FL, RTP100E2P6G1FL, RTP100E1P8G1FL-DSC and RTP100E1P2G1FL-DSC. Their on-resistance range runs from 5 milliohms down to 1.2 milliohms, giving designers choices across different current, efficiency and thermal requirements.

 

Renesas is positioning the devices for synchronous rectification, multiphase buck conversion and motor drives. Those jobs appear in AI power supplies, humanoid joints, factory automation, power tools and solar microinverters, linking the launch to both computing infrastructure and machines operating at the edge.

 

The devices use enhancement-mode, or normally off, GaN. That behavior is familiar to engineers designing with silicon MOSFETs because the transistor remains off without a gate signal, while the GaN material supports faster switching and lower charge than conventional silicon power devices.

 

Renesas says the family delivers up to 35% lower hard-switching figure of merit and up to 63% lower soft-switching figure of merit than comparable GaN devices. These are manufacturer comparisons, and customers will need to validate performance under their own voltage, frequency, cooling and load conditions.

 

How 100V GaN Fits an 800V AI Power System

The 100-volt rating does not mean the new transistors connect directly to an 800-volt rack bus. Instead, they are designed for lower-voltage stages after the system has converted high-voltage distribution into a 48-volt intermediate bus or other supply rails used by servers and supporting equipment.

 

Renesas introduced a separate 650-volt GaN device on September 30 for the high-voltage side of 800-volt data-center designs. The new 100-volt family fills the other end of the conversion chain, allowing the company to offer high- and low-voltage switches alongside controllers, drivers and microcontrollers.

 

Data-center power converters commonly switch at hundreds of kilohertz. Renesas expects 800-volt distribution and 48-volt bus architectures to push some stages toward megahertz operation, where smaller magnetic components can reduce board area but switching losses and heat become harder to manage.

 

Gallium nitride can help because it switches quickly with low gate and output charge. The new devices also specify zero reverse-recovery charge, avoiding a source of energy loss that appears when a silicon MOSFET changes direction during each conversion cycle.

 

Renesas has a 6-kilowatt reference design that converts 800 volts to 48 volts using an LLC resonant DC transformer topology. The company says the platform uses soft switching to improve efficiency and includes galvanic isolation, providing a concrete system path for evaluating the new low-voltage parts.

 

Efficiency Claims Depend on the Complete Converter

Renesas claims the low-voltage family can improve efficiency by one to three percentage points over silicon designs, cut switching losses by 40% to 70% and double power density. The ranges vary by application and architecture, so they should not be read as guaranteed results for every server or robot.

 

Higher switching frequency can shrink inductors, transformers and capacitors, freeing space for compute, batteries or actuators. Lower electrical losses can also reduce cooling demand, although total system savings depend on drivers, magnetics, layout, control software and the operating profile rather than the transistor alone.

 

The packaging is intended to lower adoption friction. Renesas offers bottom- and dual-side cooling configurations in MOSFET-compatible footprints, allowing some teams to migrate from silicon layouts without a complete board redesign. Compatibility still requires electrical, thermal and electromagnetic testing before production use.

 

This balance is especially relevant for robotics. A smaller motor drive can fit closer to a joint and reduce cabling, while improved efficiency can preserve battery energy. But fast edges can increase electromagnetic interference, making board layout and control of voltage transients important parts of the engineering work.

 

Availability Moves the Launch Beyond Sampling

All four Renesas 100V GaN FETs and their corresponding evaluation boards are available now. That distinguishes the release from the company’s new 650-volt dual-side-cooled device, which is sampling to major AI data-center manufacturers and is scheduled for mass production in mid-2027.

 

Immediate availability lets power engineers test the claimed benefits against existing silicon MOSFET designs before committing to a new bill of materials. The most useful comparisons will measure conversion efficiency across realistic loads, thermal performance, electromagnetic emissions and the size and cost of the completed power stage.

 

The broader commercial question is whether a silicon-compatible path can accelerate GaN adoption outside premium chargers and specialized power equipment. AI racks and robots both reward smaller, cooler conversion hardware, but suppliers still have to prove reliability, manufacturing consistency and attractive lifetime cost at volume.

 

Renesas is trying to answer that challenge with a portfolio rather than a single component. Its high-voltage and low-voltage GaN devices, evaluation hardware and reference designs now cover more of the route from an 800-volt rack supply to 48-volt distribution and compact motor-control stages.