If you haven’t yet heard about gallium nitride (GaN) charging technology, you soon will. The secret behind a new generation of smaller yet more efficient chargers and power bricks, GaN technology is the obvious successor to today’s ubiquitous silicon chargers, and for good reason.
What is GaN technology?
GaN is a material that was initially used to manufacture certain types of LEDs and LED screens in the early 1990s. Back then, GaN technology was also used to develop a type of blue laser that was used in certain media consoles. If you’ve ever wondered where the “blu” in Blu-ray comes from, it’s GaN that gives the blue light its namesake hue.
However, not only was GaN a core ingredient for blue lasers and LEDs, but it also turned out to be a powerful semiconductor, one that rivals and surpasses our current gold standard for chargers and power bricks: silicon.
Why is GaN better than silicon?
All materials have a “band gap,” which refers to how well they can conduct electricity. The inherent properties of silicon determine the ceiling as far as heat and electrical transfer are concerned. Those same properties mean the components can’t really get any smaller or more efficient. GaN, on the other hand, has a wider band gap than silicon, which means it can conduct higher voltages than silicon and the current can run through GaN-based devices faster and with less energy lost to heat.
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