“Last week, Anker debuted a tiny new power brick, crediting its small size with the component it uses instead of silicon: Gallium Nitride (GaN). It’s the latest example of the growing popularity of this transparent, glass-like material that could one day unseat silicon and cut energy use worldwide.”

“…GaN electronics are far more efficient than their silicon counterparts, and they lose less energy…”

“…You can make things very small, or you can pack more GaN in the same area…”

“Gallium Nitride (GaN) is a term you’re going to start hearing a lot more of; it’s spoken of by some as a replacement for silicon, although so far that is mostly manifesting itself in extremely small USB-C Power Delivery (PD) chargers.“

“…RavPower’s design takes a totally different approach to Anker’s. It’s a single-port charger that focuses on thinness above all else — it only protrudes about half an inch from the wall, and the USB-C port is on the edge, meaning you can easily run the cable behind furniture or tuck it out of the way…”

“..With 45 watts of power and USB-C PD, this is enough to charge a new MacBook Air or Nintendo Switch with ease, as well as fast-charging iPad Pros and newer iPhones…”

“…This sweet little device supports USB Power Delivery with a maximum voltage of 20V, yet it maintains the same 14mm thickness as its 12W predecessor, thus making it the world’s thinnest 45W USB charger. What’s more, it’s noticeably smaller and lighter than Apple’s 29W USB-C MacBook adapter…“

“…According to CEO Matthew Judkins, the biggest challenge of developing the Mu One over the past two years was trying to solve the space and heat issues from such a dense system. Thanks to some help from power controller specialist Navitas, the Mu One eventually took advantage of gallium nitride (GaN), a material that can handle this much power in a small form factor while maintaining a high efficiency of 94 percent…”