Response time reduction of DC–DC converter in voltage mode with application of GaN transistors and digital control

This paper discusses the potential to decrease the response time of a DC–DC converter through the substitution of Si transistors with GaN transistors and the implementation of digital control techniques. This paper introduces an improved methodology for designing digital voltage controllers by analyzing discretization delays and subsequently implementing a modified analog controller design method. The theoretical analysis was verified using an experimental prototype of a 100 W 48 V to 12 V GaN-based DC–DC converter. A digital controller that allows a 50 kHz bandwidth to be achieved based on an STM32G4 microcontroller was developed, and the design of the controller is discussed in detail. The converter was operated with a 500 kHz switching frequency using a 6 µH inductor and a 20 µF ceramic capacitor output filter. Although the digital control introduced a 1.2 µs delay, a converter response time equal to 40 µs was achieved. Simulation models were created and their results were verified via comparisons with experimental results obtained with an AP310 frequency response analyzer.