Is gallium nitride the silicon of the future?

The global electronics industry has been fueled by silicon from the get-go, but that may soon change. Products are slowly appearing that replace silicon with gallium nitride, a material that promises to shrink technology down while making it more efficient. We take a look inside one of these products to find out how gallium nitride could usher in the future of miniaturized gadgets.
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[@VergeScience]

What tech would you like to see miniaturized in the future?

[@niketmaheshwari4187]

Verge Science nano bots into atom bots 😂 lol

[@ccluci8848]

Carriers

[@Neo_0011]

quantum computers.

[@richie1326]

Batteries, of course!

[@TommoCarroll]

@@richie1326 I second this!

[@alainischileno]

...idk Gallium Nitride Valley just doesn't have the same ring to it

[@knowledgeiskey1319]

i was looking for that comment

[@rousseau327]

The real reason why we haven't seen a dramatic shift

[@TheHaters112]

But it does give it that edgy dangerous feel.

[@staberas]

Gallium Valley? or GNV , like lets go to the GNV's ?

[@anonymous-sr5ks]

Galli Valley

[@rfldss89]

kinda cringed at you guys trying to open the charger by pulling/twisting the prongs.

[@VergeScience]

Saaaame, which makes me really happy we didn't show me trying to decap the PMIC. - Cory

[@ToxisLT]

uh, yes, my next question was: wait, don't they have capacitors there - you know, where you just used your hammer - and you are picking this up with your fingers?

[@VergeScience]

@@ToxisLT We discharged the capacitors to be safe, but this was a review unit that never held a charge.

[@ToxisLT]

@@VergeScience good;) as after your famous pc build guide - one never knows;)

[@theoreotically]

@@ToxisLT 😂😂😂

[@MrMastadox]

How does the gallium nitride make the charger smaller? You are comparing a 30 watt charger to a 60 watt charger in the video and act as if the difference in size is due to the use of gallium nitride when it isn't. The biggest components of the charger are copper coils and capacitors. The 60 watt charger obviously requires bigger coils and more capacitors. Capacitors being another space consuming component. The reason the other charger is smaller is due to design and output power. The chip that contains the gallium nitride doesn't get significantly smaller compared to regular chips . The only real advantage it has in this charger is the efficiency, which ofcourse is welcome in a charger. But the chip is not where the biggest loss in a charger comes from in the first place. In general most chargers are already 85%+ efficient.

[@Ammothief41]

I'm wondering if it was an ad or some kind of "sponsored" content.

[@MrMastadox]

@@Ammothief41 Yeah , there surely are plenty of unfair comparisons and unrealistic claims in the video to be reeking of both an ad and sponsored content.

[@MatthewStinar]

Infotainment. They acknowledge that there are scientists but steer clear of anything that might resemble a discussion of science. And they make a big deal about lazy and mindless destruction.

[@EebstertheGreat]

GaN chargers are actually smaller. The important thing here is that these are USB chargers, and the electronic components heat up and limit the power output of small chargers. More efficient transistors means you don't have to deal with as much heat, so you can make your chargers smaller. The limitation on size is not due to our inability to manufacture small coils.

[@alexc4882]

It is true that coils take a big amount in the overall space of the charger. Heat is a concern, but it's not why it make the charger smaller. Actually, the very big improvement that offers GaN, and that is not said in the video, is that GaN offers a much higher frequency range to convert power. Thus drastically reducing the size of coils. It does have a better efficiency than Si transistors, but on a certain range of frequency only. So be careful on what is said in the verge video... because it's not all green for GaN, a lot is still needed for it to be reliable, mass produced, and so on.

[@ReevansElectro]

I can't stand it when non-tech people think that they should report on tech and abuse tech for the sake of clicks or drama. 👎

[@KarlssonF]

reward for the worst explanation of semiconductors.

[@rousseau327]

To be fair, if they actually explained what semiconductors are, 1) it would detract away from the point of the video, which is GaN and not semiconductors in and of itself, and 2) they'd probably lose half their viewers on this video because the average viewer probably doesn't give two shits what a semiconductor actually is. It's not exactly the most exciting topic for most people.

[@emmett050]

I don't think this was dumbed down, I think this was just bad writing. If they didn't think semiconductors could be explained in an interesting way then they could have just skipped that point.

[@pjaxy]

I agree. Verge "Science" should get their science in order. It's going to mislead readers.

[@adolfhitler2026]

@@pjaxy This video isn't about semiconductors, it's about the advantages of GaN. Feel free to press elsewhere if you want to learn what a semiconductor is.

[@artiew8718]

what do you expect from morons making videos for morons.

[@RafaelPedrocb1978]

Use métric system in temperatures. U are an international chanel

[@GhostSamaritan]

Use the SI units!

[@jamesmnguyen]

It doesn't really matter what the unit is, they say it can melt in your hand, so body temperature.

[@rousseau327]

Google is also available internationally, as well as any other resource of unit conversion. If you're going to complain about unit systems on one thing, don't stop there. Go on car videos and complain about them using horsepower rather than kW, or lb-ft instead of Nm.

[@johnj8639]

Most of their Audience is American, I assume they would like to cater to that.

[@marcodemoes7604]

@@johnj8639 where is that stated?

[@Personnenenparle]

Semiconductors arent halfway between conductor and insulator.. its not like that.. its not even the way it acts or is used.. you are describing a resistor

[@Кайо-н4в]

Says a lot about the quality of their content

[@B0MYT]

Wait silicon can’t be used as a resistor? I mean most resistors are made from carbon or metal film, but in context of microelectronics how else would you create a resistor? Also doped semiconductors are what creates diodes and transistors.

[@omeridan8815]

@@B0MYT exectly it can be isolating or conduction P or N its not in the middle between them, its not both its one or the other, you say the same thing nicolas said.

[@AaronTheGerman]

Verge Science writing the script: "Well I know what a conductor is... and I know what semi means so... I guess..."

[@void7805]

its the verge what do you expect

[@TommoCarroll]

*"I say we use the hammer"* - famous last words or the supreme answer to most questions? Definitely the supreme answer. Really fascinating video as always!

[@AP-yx1mm]

Using hammer to enquire high technology! That is ironic and/or postmodern. (De gustibus non est disputandum)

[@jonasp.1830]

Well Hello there Aspect Science :D! To everyone who reads this, Check the Channel him out, hes an amazing guy who makes some awsome science videos.

[@2312uri]

Communist party choosing his symbol, circa 1900

[@waleedahmed6000]

I will

[@waleedahmed6000]

I will

[@AmritZoad]

Year 2050: I wonder why they call it “Silicon Valley”?

[@JasmineJu]

Nah, by then it'll be Death Valley haha.

[@Neojhun]

@@JasmineJu Or Pacific Ocean. hehehe

[@Crankulite]

@@Neojhun hehe global warming joke

[@srboromir452]

Obviously because there's a lot of sand

[@Neojhun]

@@Crankulite Yep

[@scottwallace4428]

That's a bad way of explaining semi conductors. Pure semi conductors are very good insulators as they do not have any free electrons to convey a current. It's the doping process which makes them "semiconductive".

[@axman2907]

I think they would of lost more than half the viewers if they started talking about valence and conduction bands. But I agree

[@scottwallace4428]

@@axman2907 it's like gen chem 101. Most ppl learn it in highschool. It's also pretty analogous to other things. Not super hard.

[@axman2907]

@@scottwallace4428 absolutely agree, but you know what they say. You don't use it, you lose it!

[@davidelmkies6343]

@@scottwallace4428 If the point you're making is that most people know that, I disagree. But there are many questions you could ask multiple people who DO KNOW about the difference between silicon and gallium nitride that would illuminate things that are quite easy to understand for the layperson, and still serve as a good introduction even if you have a background in electronics. They never even explained why the charger was able to be smaller. If you can link the tradeoffs to physical properties with which the watcher can identify, then it can be useful at all levels.

[@scottwallace4428]

@@davidelmkies6343 what questions could be asked

[@KKoerli]

Silicon abundance in the earth crust: 25 % Gallium abundance in the earths crust: 0.0014 %. Now you know why it's not used that often

[@yousifabdullah5202]

Well it's not🌚

[@chuckkottke]

My thoughts too. But if only a small amount is needed for limited applications, there may be enough. Residues in coal burning plant flues were one source, maybe a significant quantity can be extracted from wastes? Better to stick with ubiquitous silicon and carbon for most applications, that's my inclination too.

[@asadasifsyed4046]

U didn't add nitrogen 😎😎😎;)

[@white-bunny]

It's not going bad as fast as silicon anyway so it's fine...

[@AnimMouse]

Nitrogen abundance in the Earth's atmosphere: 78 %

[@vlad11112]

Wtf is fahrenheit ?

[@rousseau327]

Are you really more superior with your units if you can't do a simple conversion of units?

[@juan-qj7ge]

@@rousseau327 Its called Verge Science. At least the could pretend to uphold the sience part of their name!

[@rousseau327]

@@juan-qj7ge Science isn't dictated by just units, talking about materials such as GaN is something that they want to be the focal point of this video, not the fact that they used Fahrenheit instead of Celsius, which by the way, there are scientist in the world using the former instead of the latter. Is this an improvement that can be made on their videos? Yeah, but it doesn't help for everyone to act like they're somehow superior for being born in a country that uses another unit system

[@TheHaters112]

@@rousseau327 simple math conversation? Do you even science?

[@rousseau327]

@@TheHaters112 If it's such a simple math conversion, why are people like you so bothered that a channel uses units that you don't use?

[@MrKoval-nm9ky]

you will not get a smaller charger if you use galium nitride, as you have seen, the size of it it's almost all dependent of the size of the transformer, so if you decrease the size of other electronics it will not change much, because the transformer still takes a lot of space

[@AlexBrothersYT]

GaN based designs will allow you to use a smaller transformer compared to Si based designs for the same efficiency.

[@Carnassial0915]

You can switch at high frequency at the same efficiency than with silicon. This reduces the size of the transformer needed.

[@azhuransmx126]

GaN FETs are the key because their main advantage is that they become much more efficient as frecuencies grows compared to Silicon, and with higher frecuencies, you can use smaller transformers to induce the same power, so all is a chain.

[@evaristegalois6282]

Vibranium would do a better job, just saying

[@jhonx5323]

But it is only available in wakanda is it?

[@luongmaihunggia]

Wtf?

[@bilalsadain]

As we've seen in Black Panther, if you have a problem, throw Vibranium at it

[@1nonly963]

@Time Traveller it conducts reflected energy 100% it's perfect and the answer to fusion energy unlimited supply.

[@dity5438]

You're next justin Y

[@btk150]

"Semi conductors are about halfway between these two extremes". Seriously? So, it conducts, but just a little?

[@MichaelFortner1989]

It's true. For example, glass is ~10^-12, silicon is ~10^-3 and copper ~10^7 S/m so silicon is in the middle. It's kinda incidental, though. The thing that makes silicon and other semiconductor materials so special is their ability to have their electrical properties easily modulated via the introduction of small amounts of specific impurities called dopants, and the interesting electronic behaviors that are possible with precise patterns of doping. This is mainly due to the bulk availability of outer-shell electrons in the material, which has the side effect of giving them middling conductivity.

[@unknown4me1]

that's only the half story. silicon on it's own does not do anything. You need to inject additional atoms, so called impurities. this doping (technical term) allows to change the conductivity. this makes p and n type semiconductors (where n type have excess electrons and p type have excess holes [too few electrons]). at the pn junction, the magic of semiconductors happens. In Short, they failed to convay any real information, just vague statements which do not make a lot of sense.

[@PixlRainbow]

It conducts, but only when certain conditions (e.g. energy level or whatever) are met

[@chadcastagana9181]

More to the point, semiconductors form unilateral conductors aka rectification layers or contact points

[@nakamotolikesyou]

35 seconds in and I already lost hope

[@benitollan]

GaN is also used in the transceivers (key component) of some high performance military AESA radars. I read that its advantages not only derive from its higher electronic efficiency, but it also conducts heat better and both things make the heat dissipation systems need to use less energy themselves.

[@pwneytube]

Cringing by 45 seconds, definitely a Verge video.

[@TheGamingSabre]

A tad unfair to compare a 30W Anker charger to an 87W Apple one (Less impressive once compared to the 29W Apple charger which also has universal adapter capability). If you were to also barbarically smash the apple charger you would see that most of the space is taken up by transformers, capacitors and inductors rather than silicon dies. The reduced size of the Anker charger is due to the ability to run at higher frequencies, as GaN has lower gate capacitance and lower on-resistance compared to silicone. The higher frequency allows for smaller components (transformers, capacitors etc.) along with increased efficiency. In the real world, we would more likely end up using GaN to push performance in the likes of processors, trading its efficiency for performance.

[@MrMastadox]

Ohh you beat me to it .. read this after i wrote something similar.. Kinda got annoyed with them claiming gallium nitride makes a huge difference in size when the biggest advantage is efficiency.. unfair comparison between chargers.

[@Furiends]

"likely end up using GaN to push performance in the likes of processors" uhhh. Nope. Everything else is correct though.

[@carmelobasco3369]

You lost me at higher frequencies to be honest. I wish i understood it better :(

[@MrMastadox]

@@Furiends Nah it won't just replace silicon in processors just like that, GaN is natively depletion mode.

[@mehdiAbderezai]

Would higher frequency make it more efficient? Your dynamic switching losses will shoot up in CMOS. Is GaN that different??

[@specific_pseudonym]

I'm surprised that he said the biggest barrier to adoption was manufacturing & design difficulties. From everything I know, gallium is simply more expensive than silicon, and much more difficult to purify, meaning that its yield is lower and thus using it is again, more expensive. I'd be very surprised if all of a sudden we had a huge price drop.

[@specific_pseudonym]

Huh. Interesting to hear about that - but while on the subject, doesn't GaN have a higher electron mobility than Si? So hypothetically you could have higher-frequency clock speeds AND reduced resistance for these kinds of fast chargers?

[@nicknevco215]

From what I read production is not the high cost it the process to make it work for circuity that increased cost several times unless in one year things have changed.

[@MatthewStinar]

I looked up the supply chain and it appears gallium is a byproduct of other mining and doesn't occur in higher concentrations by itself. So the supply is limited by the demand for other minerals and the environmental impact of mining and refining those other minerals. An improvement in efforts to recycle aluminum, for example, could reduce the supply of gallium.

[@David_T]

GaN process development has not gone well lately. I think it suffers from the same problem as GaAs: you cannot grow oxides so manufacturing is tough. Also the transistors will drift. It has some great potential but only in power.

[@somesharunvn]

Its all about mass production and implementation which will definetly take some time but it is doable. Someone can comment how much price you paid for 250MB flash drive 10 to 15 years back and how much is it now? Do you know why? Implementation and technology node made the manufacturing really less expensive. For the same price you paid 15 years back for 250MB now you can get close to 128GB/256GB flash drive..

[@luongmaihunggia]

1:38 we use conductor to transmit power not semiconductor. 1:42 not sure how would a semiconductor be use in an electric car, not in the motor because the motor use conductor not semiconductor, not the battery because it use very specific metal and you can't just replace it with something else to make it work, that mean you can only put them in an inverter but the electric vehicle's inverter is already very efficient, around 95% efficient. Any increase wouldn't increase the range that much and you can't increase it beyond 100% anyway because that would violate the law of physics.

[@harrysvensson2610]

It is, as usual, painful to hear people talk about things they have 0 clue about.

[@luongmaihunggia]

@@harrysvensson2610 nothing you said prove me wrong. So do you have greater than 0 clue about this? If so, why not educate me about what am I saying wrong here?

[@funfight22]

@@luongmaihunggia Pretty sure he was agreeing with you

[@harrysvensson2610]

I was agreeing with you, Redstone. Sorry for not making it clear.

[@luongmaihunggia]

@@harrysvensson2610 ok, that's alright.

[@BrokebackBob]

Your destroyed charger is now a nightmare for the environment.

[@KangJangkrik]

At least they're not TechRax

[@melnium]

The Verge Science? That's an oxymoron.

[@Twewy13]

I'm hoping to do a masters thesis on GaN photovoltaics this year.

[@Vulcano7965]

Max Labb Can you give us some information about it? e.g. differences to “classical“ photovoltaic cells Or differences to Gallium-Arsenide cells which are already used in spaceflight

[@SahilP2648]

@@Vulcano7965 IGZO is much more efficient that Gan or silicon. IGZO seems to be the future.

[@Twewy13]

@@Vulcano7965 I can't really actually, I don't know too much about it yet 😅 I actually think the majority of my university's research is in GaAs so I might just do that instead. We'll see.

[@Twewy13]

@Time Traveller Chemical engineering, material design

[@Vulcano7965]

@@Twewy13 Oh, ok. Thought you already gathered some knowledge about it since you're so interested in it. But if you are choosing this topic as your MSc Thesis, you can always give us a lesson about it later on! :D

[@databanks]

Get a spudger - far easier to disassemble the charger and not as destructive as a hammer

[@VergeScience]

Woahh, yes this would have been super helpful. I'll order one to have on hand the next time I need to tear something apart :) Thanks for watching - Cory

[@Ian_Wallace.]

You might also consider investing in a Dremel or other rotary tool with an assortment of cutoff wheels and cutting burs along with the whole iFixit tool set. It will be an improvement over using a wrench as a hammer. Please don't use wrenches as hammers, it's bad for them.

[@GoodPrice1]

But is a large scale use of GaN sustainable? I mean silicon is used in huge amounts and luckily is available in those amounts respectively. But with Gallium I could see a similar problem developing as we have with the resources for Li-Ion batteries right now. Or am I wrong about the large-scale availability of Gallium?

[@user-zb6gt7og9q]

Smaller devices means less material is used to make it. Especially in the scale of micrometers

[@user-zb6gt7og9q]

Nanometers*

[@peoplez129]

Gallium is not even in the top 10 list of most abundant materials on earth. The only benefit of Gallium is that it's found alongside other mined things like aluminum and zinc, so it's kind of just a byproduct of mining processes. So no, Gallium really isn't worth it. But people will try to make money off of it anyways and hail it as a future material because everyone knows the semiconductor industry is desperately looking for something better, primarily more efficient and able to run at higher temperatures. I think Gallium may probably have some drawbacks they aren't discussing. For example, it's not completely inert, it's a crystal which means it could suffer from resonance issues along with being somewhat brittle. Meanwhile silicon is a fairly flexible and rugged material, besides being abundant, and doesn't really react with anything.

[@GoodPrice1]

I guess it won't go along nicely with the flexible electronics coming up ;)@@peoplez129

[@GoodPrice1]

Yes, but the amounts needed would still be huge..@@user-zb6gt7og9q

[@TheMagicJIZZ]

Galium and Germanium was the first material to be used for transistors not silicon so weird headline

[@chadcastagana9181]

Germanium yes, not Galium! Before that there were attempts at using Copper Oxide, or Vanadium Pentoxide to create early transistors as far back as 1926

[@karehaqt]

So what's happening with graphene?

[@Vidz0022]

Check back in 10-15 years...right?

[@staberas]

was about to say the same thing, development has just halted . everytime i hear the "X material will take over the world" i always think of graphene :(

[@mycelia_ow]

@@Klips005, why would he waste his time when he could just ask, then people like you answer him. Socialization and information trade are the hallmarks and backbone of humanity.

[@Furiends]

Well this video is super misleading. Gallium isn't just going to replace silicone or any semiconductor for that matter it has specific application in power electronics right now. It would be more realistic to say its going to supplement a lot of power electronics now because it allows for much higher switching speeds and voltages.

[@Guy-lk3rw]

Its having a life and not being a total loser, unlike you weeaboos

[@FutureNow]

Dope. I regularly wish Apple would make a smaller MacBook charger, it seems so off-brand for Apple to have this big awkward brick to charge their slim laptop (although I do appreciate it over some PC laptop adapter bricks for sure).

[@zodiacfml]

depends. they can make it small as much as iphone charger but they dont want people complaining that the battery is draining while plugged in.

[@Orbis92]

If I had an Iphone I regularly would wish it had an USB-C port, so I could charge it with the MacBook charger ;)

[@lasarith2]

FutureNow if they stopped using intel chips and started to use there own cpu, or AMD, then it would reduced there power needs and the charger would get slightly smaller in the process - if they where to use the Gallium then it Probably be 1/3 rd the size .

[@YourMJK]

Better than some cheap circuit without any safety features.

[@piled3dprinting]

@Michele Cordano and Apple has enough money to buy any patent they want

[@LightWaIker]

Watching the struggle to open the charger had me thinking of the difference between being book smart, and smart on a more practical everyday useful level. We definitely need both in our world!

[@RealEyes_Realize_RealLies]

100 percent. The most underrated comment.

[@Furiends]

GaN is in fact the reason bluray works but the reason why is really what should have been explained. I feel this video is confusing the issue. The reason GaN is useful is because of its wide band gap where most semiconductors have very short band gaps. Wide band gaps allow semiconductors to operate at much higher voltages which means its especially useful for power transistors used in switch mode power supplies. Electronic components often use other semiconductors besides silicone depending on the application so its not a matter of just switching over to a single one. The issue here isn't just about "getting use to" another semi-conductor. However the presentation in the video of smaller ICs and efficiency is a huge misnomer. In power electronics higher efficiency is achieved because of lower switching losses at higher voltages. But using GaN in say your CPU isn't going to make it produce less heat but it would allow the CPU to operate at much higher temperatures. Finally as time goes on there could be many complicated ways GaN could be integrated into existing technologies. But the idea that they are just a drop in replacement for silicone and you go from 3% to 1% loss is just completely misleading. The broadest implication this technology has right now (since its already given us blue lasers) is in power transistors and specifically ones that use different band gaps instead of doping. Have a read: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-electron-mobility_transistor

[@jamesdriscoll9405]

Thank you!

[@prithvirajdj]

*Did I just watched a 6min ad of a charger?* 🤔🤔

[@THENETESH]

Yes

[@TCPUDPATM]

No, you missed the point lol

[@joebykaeby]

You folks need to start keeping a quality spudger nearby. You use a hammer for carpentry, not electronics.

[@MsMrVlog]

Silicon is 1 of the most abundant elements on Earth, while gallium is very rare. Mining rare elements is VERY energy intensive and it can destroy the environment is was mined from

[@thespiderkelly9589]

Yes exactly, how have these people completely overlooked the impracticality of getting it out of the ground?

[@EvgeniyShishkin]

I'm glad verge is covering it but this video needed more explanation of how gallium nitride is actually better than silicon at electron transfer.

[@kevinnguyen5588]

I cracked up when you guys put on PPE's to crack open the charger.

[@DDRWakaLaka]

Hey, you don't want little plastic shards in your eye :P

[@BrokebackBob]

Gallium Arsenide was the darling years ago (I'm old enough to know) but it, like Gallium Nitride, is too expensive and exotic to use on a massive scale and both are virtually impossible to recycle.

[@smelkus]

Could Gallium Phisphide be used I don't know if such a compound exists but if it did I would assume it has similar properties to Gallium Nitride and Gallium Arsenide

[@boptillyouflop]

Can it be fabricated into an equivalent of CMOS chips? Or at least offer some other advantage over existing stuff such as having a less cumbersome way of doing mixed analog-digital, easier small batch custom chips, 5ghz+ chips, better combined logic + DRAM chips, some new exotic low latency persistent RAM type?

[@geetakgupta2641]

GaN is already deployed on mass scale in every single white LED that exists in the world. That is one major reason why the electronics side can be significantly cheaper than GaAs

[@AxcelleratorT]

Verge, you missed that small detail about where all this gallium was going to come from. If GaN electronics are going to "take over the world" as you say, you are going to need a small mountain of gallium. As it stands, we barely have enough for the electronics (eg: GaAs LEDs) that are already produced.

[@RedditLover03]

Verge shows their expertise at handling hardware again.

[@gorancheros]

more the verge then the science.

[@RandyLott]

I've been using GaNFETs and SiC (silicon carbide) FETs for years. They are very fast due to extremely low input, output, and reverse transfer capacitance coupled with low inductance packages. GaNFETs have relatively low RDS(on), but it's nothing special. My main use for them lately has been with

[@jamesdriscoll9405]

Thank you!

[@claireg6199]

He answered the question within the first 20 seconds and that is why this is a good video

[@nathangamble125]

This isn't an issue of industry stagnation preventing widespread adoption. The problem with gallium nitride is that gallium is about 10x as expensive as silicon. - silicon is produced from sand, of which it is a primary component, while gallium is only economically viable to mine as a by-product of aluminium and zinc mining because it is so rare. Refining silicon from sand is a bit harder than refining gallium, but the availability of the raw material, and the fact that making gallium nitride is also difficult leaves the gallium nitride costing far more. Extra demand from semiconductors would make this price discrepancy far worse if electronics manufacturers switched to gallium nitride on a large scale.

[@HACKINGMADEFUN]

Is this video sponsored by some company?

[@GlassOmen]

These two hosts make a great duo.

[@Vajsmilan]

If talking about science stuff, please use Metric system, thank you.

[@Barnes0420]

It’s eerie how much the dude reminds me of Jessie Eisenberg

[@90mh11]

2% energy saving over silicone tech but requires high pressure and temperatures to produce material that may be usable. I'd be interested to see how the sustainability of the two stands up when you take In to account the raw material acquisition and production phases.

[@prashantmishra9985]

Gallium is also an endangered element

[@AffeAffelinTV]

Hello, I would love to see additional nonretarded units on screen when the video states stuff in e.g. Fahrenheit. Thanks, the rest of the world

[@JacobLicky]

Worked on semiconductor ion implantation tools. Shoot ions at a silicon wafer to charge it. Pretty cool

[@eggstailored]

Amazing stuff! I really love you involve yourself in the science rather than just talk about it. More videos like this please!

[@635574]

When you said the charger is smaller I thought WTF is that a fridge?

[@harrypotter1155]

The problem with transitioning to new (slightly) better material is cost. It just doesn’t pay off well (at least in the near future) and people don’t really care about material being used. They care more about smaller charger than GaN charger.

[@DebraDukes]

Verge love that you are doing these Science Videos also love reading the comments as well.Thanks for sharing Deb 👍✌

[@YeppyNope]

Wow that's really cool

[@adlockhungry304]

It’s an older tech that may not be relevant anymore, but I remember learning about Gallium Arsonide solar cells back in 2001-ish. I know about a 1-inch square of it was used under a 10-12” Fresnel lens concentrator in a photovoltaic panel with dual axis tracking (meaning it always faced directly into the sun, which was necessary in order for the lens to direct the light into the GA cell). Silicon cells proved to be much simpler and more practical, but I’m still curious to know more.

[@ADELAROSA12]

Yes, I've built some R&D coater machines that were testing SiG techno for cheaper solar panels. gallium i saw was a material format.

[@douglasstrother6584]

GaN excells in electro-optics, power, and increasingly in high-frequency applications. Microprocessors are a whole different game.

[@525Lines]

Check out the TRS-80 Model 100 in the background of their set. It never gets the credit it deserves. Everybody talks about the Apple II but the Model 100 was a big deal 30 or so years ago and a lot of people had them.

[@andrewlambert7246]

I didnt know that the USA needs Japan to source their Gallium nitrade radar moduls.

[@pandakso3365]

Instructions unclear, ordered ammonium nitrate manure, now my house smells and I'm on fbi watch list

[@elmong9124]

Damn I just got one and I see this video, thanks for taking this apart for us!

[@einorauhala1749]

Now I know where the silicon in ”silicon valley” comes from.

[@yingpang6366]

As an engineer working on GaN I could say that most of the things that professor said is wrong or misleading... You don’t even gain 0.5 percent efficiency if you compare the best Si based circuit to the best GaN circuit! And little bit expensive? What a joke! Couples of times more ! And don’t even start with the reliability issues of GaN. When tech is not there it is not there, no need to overhype it just so you can get research fund...

[@leozendo3500]

I still remember talking about a GaN power management chip last year at a dinner table.

[@rottweiler107able]

Can you please do a video on metal foam

[@ThePyrosirys]

I dont understand why dr kuball claims GaN will allow us to get a wire straight from the wall to a device. Clearly the biggest component in the transformator is the coil and shrinking it will require completly different tech. In general I'd say that this video making some very optimistic claims for no reason. For example the 10% power reduction claimed if we switched to all GaN is really neat, but to actually change out all electronics would require a massive change. Maybe it would be worth it in the end, but it's not like the industry is "scared" and "conservative", they just don't see a big enough benifit.

[@ThePyrosirys]

@@daniel-ruiz no it obviously couldn't be, because the coil is big and gets hot. You can't change that by making a smaller PCB

[@debadityasaha1684]

*WTF , WHY THE FUCK ARE YOUR VIDEOS SO HIGH QUALITY ? GOD DAMMIT*

[@garydose129]

Gallium Nitride is an interesting step for the future. I think the battery problem needs to be attacked from both sides by improving battery density, but also improving efficiency of electronics. The nice thing is you can actually buy products that use GaN right now, unlike graphene (but maybe some effective way to process graphene will come out in the future and graphene will blow up commercially).

[@vilu5727]

You,re so good at explaining love you keep posting

[@zlothra]

Cool stuff Should've showed the power rating of both chargers. There are multiple chargers smaller than others, but the power rating changes.

[@anb1142]

3:41 I wouldn't say it's sustainable, Silicon is everywhere, gallium is mined.

[@kyriakos098]

I'm pretty sure graphene is the silicon of the future

[@melody3741]

That is Literally THE WORST description I've ever heard of a semiconductor

[@TickyTack23]

This isn't new tech, gallium has been used in semiconductors since the late 80's. The issue is the abundance, meaning cost. Silicone is on our beaches, gallium... it's in ores as a bi-product of mining other metals. Not saying it can't be used. But for a charger? Never. It's only going to be used in industrial, research, and military applications. Consumers won't see much of a benefit due to the cost.

[@geetakgupta2641]

GaN is already used in all white LEDs (see 2014 Physics Nobel Prize) and is widely deploys in the lighting industry. Electronic applications are more recent and piggybacking on cost reduction due to lighting industry taking off. GaN amplifiers for radars and wireless communication have been around for some time. GaN power electronics applications like this are very recent development (last few years). GaN however has no play yet in digital electronics (microprocessors etc).

[@jamesdriscoll9405]

Thank you! This should have been in the video.

[@ethanlamoureux5306]

I would have to disagree with the video description, where it says “The global electronics industry has been fueled by silicon from the get-go...” The global electronics industry once depended on vacuum tubes, then upon the invention of the transistor, it began to move to semiconductor-based electronics. But those first semiconductors were mostly made of germanium, which doesn’t work nearly as well as silicon, requires more complex circuitry, and thus is less efficient. As technology improved, silicon took over from germanium. So if GaN takes over, it will just be another step in the improvement of electronics technology. But in reality, the electronics industry goes back even farther than the vacuum tube, as early inventions like telephone and radio predate the vacuum tube.

[@Sonic10Inu]

You should invest in a dremmel. It would make it easier to open little things like this.

[@Ubrfnd]

How does this compare to GaAs? It was the better-than-silicon-but-at-a-premium semiconductor when I was in school, but that was over a decade ago.

[@davidelmkies6343]

That's kind of exciting, but I'm missing a summary of why: What is it being used for in the charger? Why did you go to the trouble of taking it apart without explaining what the gallium nitride's purpose was? What are its other applications over silicon besides power use? What makes the circuit design for a gallium board different than a silicon one? Just trace size? Do any other electrical properties change? This would be a much more comprehensive take in my view. It would be nice if people of all levels of knowledge can get something from a tech outlook like this one. Asking about the fundamental differences between the two should have been able to get you there if you had enough sources.

[@rayrayray-l5l]

Probably an ad by Anker

[@davidelmkies6343]

@@rayrayray-l5l I had that thought too. I'd be okay with product placement (if that's what it is) if they just did a decent job. That just makes it worse.

[@mglmouser]

Seymour Cray was a fan of Gallium and was the first to use it in a computing platform, when his Cray supercomputers were real supercomputers, not a bunch of off-the-shelf components slapped together. Long live the MPX series.

[@timng9104]

iii-v semiconductors are good but u need to remember how developed silicon processing (czochralski, etching, ion implant, patterning) is now. once we hit 3nm, then the III-V will be needed i guess

[@sunbrian660]

As a Gallium Nitride user, I vote for Silicon Carbide.

[@archismanmajumdar215]

Gallium nitride has been used in military electronics for some time especially in aesa modules

[@miigon9117]

Yes, finally. Gallium Valley!

[@jolly1039]

You need to mine for gallium silicon is Sand easy to get. Lots of different!!

[@honestinsky]

Excellent video, thanks for posting, much appreciated : )

[@inspectorsteve2287]

Lol I can't stop laughing from the way you used the tools.

[@brentmarquez4157]

Thanks for the video and explanation. Does GaN address or solve the problem of quantum tunneling?

[@Grim2]

SPOILER: Probably not.

[@heinrichhein2605]

GaN are quite old they are almost 10 years old.

[@200Carl]

What's the advantage of the Anker charger over a normal one? Or it's the same thing? No difference nor advantage? They just said like "hey look the Anker charger.. what ever idk what is this" 😒

[@endrioinfiniti]

I have a question. What about the new substance known as Graphene?

[@nrgraff]

What about the consequences for extractive industries. How plentiful is gallium and how sustainable would it be to harvest it at levels required for a substantial market share (I mean on the front end, obviously reducing inefficiency could cause a huge energy savings after the fact as discussed in the video)? And who works in those mines? How much do they get paid?

[@ikickss]

Nobody mines just for Ga. Ga is a "byproduct" of Aluminum processing. By saying "byproduct" they make it sound like they are getting something for free, but it has to go through a number of processes(some involving coal) to be industrially useable. Then it has to be further refined to 99.9999% purity to be made into semiconductors with other elements. All requiring lots of energy. Not environmentally friendly. GaN dust is nastier than silicon one. And lastly: Ga compounds in general don't recycle well. GaN is worse than average in this regard. So, Ga is a de facto finite resource. Scientist knew Ga would make better semiconductor even before the first diode was made. But they keep avoiding using it as much as they can, because cases against using it pile up decades after decades.

[@nrgraff]

@@ikickss wow that's really interesting, I was worried there would be factors like that at play. Thanks for sharing and educating me

[@andreah8342]

Hi! Which are the companies that are investing on that?

[@parkerhollingsed1192]

I just got a 65 watt charger that's a little bit bigger than apples 5 watt charger that we have seen everywhere. Pretty dang impressive if you ask me.

[@RandyLott]

Due to safely regulations, wall chargers must have a transformer with ample size. This is what really forces sizes. Also, many countries require common mode chokes for EMC and class X/Y capacitors for safety. These are both large devices. It's not very difficult to design a super small solution, but you can't just do whatever you want. You must follow regulations.

[@TheFlashPod]

The thing that blows my mind here is that chargers are equipped with microcontrollers :D I always thought these things are just passive electronic... Btw, you could explain the technology much more detailed. Just found this channel and I have to say that you have nice production value, but a bit more depth on the topic would make it a lot better. People do not really like being talked down on them like being not able to grasp a more scientific approach ;)

[@TheThorns]

Seymour Cray tried to push this in the 70's but silicon market crushed that idea. To bad cause had Cray been able to overturn the market we would have had 50 years of developed optimized technology. Much smaller & faster tech.

[@elikyals]

Another valley coming up?