There is little overhead between the recommended drive voltage and the absolute maximum gate drive voltage. How do I handle this?
It is important to keep the max gate voltage below 6V for long term reliability. To make this easy for the designer, we have developed drive level shifters, and discrete gate drivers that not only manage drive voltage, but also manage deadtime. For a detailed description of our recommended discrete solution please see the article How2 Get The Most Out Of GaN Power Transistors.
In June of 2011, Texas Instruments announced the industry’s first eGaN FET driver. Subsequently additional GaN compatible driver and controller options have become available in the market. A list of known partner IC’s is maintained on the eGaN Drivers and Controllers page.