Max Smolaks welcomes gallium nitride, a new material which will replace silicon in the power chain

For the past 35 years, most power supplies have relied on power MOSFETs (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors) – voltage-controlled devices made of silicon that are used to switch and condition electricity.

Data Center Dynamics
April 19, 2017
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I was led to believe we were heading for a wireless world but a look behind my TV tells a very different story when I see all those wires everywhere. Not to mention the increasing number of BRIDGES for IoT devices. We were hoping to talk about the wireless powered home and how GaN (gallium nitride) is making that possible! When it comes to gallium nitride, there is only one man to speak with, and he's truly changing the world at EPC. He first appeared on EP180 talking about Why Gallium Nitride Is About To Disrupt Silicon then returned on 203 The LIDAR Technology Behind An X-Ray Pill. But he has returned to today to talk about how it can wireless charge anything, and it will blow your mind. Dr. Alex Lidow, is the CEO and co-founder of Efficient Power Conversion and he is going to talk about how tech will make power cords disappear and how EPC is leading the charge in the wireless space.

The Tech Blog Writer Podcast
April 14, 2017
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EPC’s Phase Nine Reliability Report documents a combined total of over 9 million GaN stress device-hours with zero failures. This report focuses on thermo-mechanical board level reliability, describing for the first time, a predictive model for solder joint integrity and showing the superior reliability of wafer level chip-scale packaging (WLCSP) GaN technology over comparable packaged devices.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.— April 2017 — EPC announces its Phase Nine Reliability Report showing the results of a rigorous set of thermo-mechanical board level reliability testing. The Phase Nine Reliability Report adds to the growing knowledge base previously published in EPC’s first eight reports and represents an ongoing commitment to study, learn, and share information on the reliability of GaN technology.

See some of the GaN applications demonstrated by Efficient Power Conversion Corporation at APEC 2017.

EDN Network
April 3, 2017
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At APEC 2017, Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) showcased applications using eGaN technology in an effort to prove that it will soon change the way we live.

Electronics360
March 29, 2017
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Alex Lidow, CEO of Efficient Power Conversion (EPC), assesses where the driverless vehicle sector is headed and the technologies which will help it realize its potential…

The Stack
March 17, 2017
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Light detection and ranging (lidar) is a versatile light-based remote sensing technology that recently has been the subject of great attention. It has shown up in a number of media venues and has even led to public debate about the engineering choices of a well-known electric car company, Tesla Motors. While this article is not going to enter the fray, it will provide some background on lidar and discuss its strong connection to power electronics technologies.

Published in: IEEE Power Electronics Magazine ( Volume: 4, Issue: 1, March 2017 )
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Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) has dealt another blow to the silicon MOSFET power element with its Generation 5 (Gen5) process enhancements, bringing improved performance while decreasing the cost of off-the-shelf Gallium Nitride transistors and shrinking their die size and board footprint.

Alex Lidow, EPC’s CEO/co-founder, and his team have once again put their expertise to work in their efforts to provide designers these unique power solution choices for new markets that need performance beyond what silicon devices have been able to provide. The team’s technical capabilities and in-depth understanding, even into the quantum mechanics of the process, are enabling both better performance as well as shrinking the size and cost of their solutions

EDN
March 15, 2017
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The $330 billion silicon chip industry is the foundation of everything electronic. But it’s slowing down as it reaches a new level of maturity that is prompting a bunch of mergers and acquisitions.

That’s why Alex Lidow, an industry pioneer and the chief proponent of an alternative material to silicon — gallium nitride (GaN) — feels like his time has come. His company, Efficient Power Conversion (EPC), is unveiling a new generation of eGaN chips that are half the size of previous chips and have significantly higher performance.

VentureBeat
March 15, 2017
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EPC introduces EPC2045 and EPC2047 eGaN^® FETs that are half the size of prior generation eGaN transistors with significantly higher performance.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — March 2017 — Efficient Power Conversion Corporation, the world’s leader in enhancement-mode gallium nitride on silicon (eGaN^®) power FETs and ICs advances the performance capability while lowering the cost of off-the-shelf gallium nitride transistors with the introduction of the EPC2045 (7 mΩ, 100 V) and the EPC2047 (10 mΩ, 200 V) eGaN FETs. Applications for the EPC2045 include single stage 48 V to load Open Rack server architectures, point-of-load converters, USB-C, and LiDAR. Wireless charging, multi-level AC-DC power supplies, robotics, and solar micro inverters are example applications for the 200 V EPC2047.

Televisions can get their content wirelessly, but there is one set of wires they still need: those in their power cord. The consumer electronics industry has floated ideas for freeing TVs from their power cords, but this goal remains elusive. There are several reasons, such as the difficultly of meeting high-power requirements for large-screen TVs and the need for identifying an economical technology. Nevertheless, eGaN FETs could play a role in making TVs truly cordless devices.

Power Electronic Tips
February, 23, 2017
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As deep learning proliferates, the question of data center power density is once again on the rise, creating new business opportunities for specialized cloud services, hosted in facilities that can support north of 30 kW per rack, and companies in the power conversion space, who can tackle the density issue by making systems more energy efficient. Replacing silicon as the semiconductor material in power conversion chips with gallium nitrate, or GaN, leads to much smaller and more energy efficient devices that provide much faster switching.

Data Center Knowledge
February, 2017
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At the CES show in Las Vegas this year, EPC (Efficient Power Conversion) showcased how GaN is a core technology behind autonomous vehicles, the house of the future without power cords, the connected car, and non-invasive colonoscopies with an x-ray system within a pill. Replacing silicon, one of the most prevalent types of semiconductor around, with a different material, Gallium Nitride, commonly abbreviated as GaN — or “eGaN,” EPCS new, improved form of GaN. Silicon enabled Intel to build an entire empire, but could this be displaced by GaN? This is an episode that you can expect to learn a huge amount and how it appears that the days of Silicon are numbered in this digital age where companies must disrupt or face disruption. Anyone interested in technology and where the industry is heading will love this episode. Guest Info Dr. Alex Lidow the CEO and co-founder of Efficient Power Conversion onto the show to learn What is GaN? Why GaN? and where is it heading?

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The Tech Blog Writer Podcast
January 20, 2017

Wireless power transfer (WPT) technology is destined, in the very near future, to rock the electrics and electrical world we live in. Eric Giler, now president of WiTricity, an MIT spinoff, gave an excellent TED presentation in 2009 entitled, "A demo of wireless electricity." In this demonstration, Giler powered a small TV via wireless power transfer—that was 2009. We have come a long way since then; please read on for a technical glimpse into this amazing field (pun intended) of opportunity for designers.

EDN Network
January 26, 2017
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Adding to its breadth of applications research and support for EPC customer evaluation and use of GaN^® FETs and ICs, the company announces the opening of an applications center and the appointment of Suvankar Biswas, Ph.D. as senior applications engineer.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.— January 2017 — Efficient Power Conversion Corporation (EPC) is proud to announce the opening of an Applications Center in Blacksburg, Virginia.  This center will increase the reach of EPC to support research and development for the applications of enhancement-mode gallium nitride transistors and ICs.  In addition to traditional FET and IC power conversion applications, GaN technology has enabled emerging applications such as wireless power transfer, LiDAR for autonomous vehicles, and envelope tracking for high bandwidth 4G and 5G communications.

EPC CEO and Co-Founder, Alex Lidow, discusses the life changing applications on display at CES with Bloomberg Radio. Applications such as LiDAR for autonomous cars with the potential to disrupt the transportation industry and wireless power with the potential to eliminate power cords are highlighted as well as how GaN enables these new technologies.

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Bloomberg
January, 2017

Ultra fast transition eGaN^® FETs used on the EPC9126 can drive laser diodes with high current pulses and total pulse widths as low as 5 ns, thus enhancing the quality of information a LiDAR system will detect, including the accuracy, precision, and processing speed.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — January 2017 — Efficient Power Conversion Corporation (EPC) announces the availability of the EPC9126, a 100 V high current pulsed laser diode driver evaluation board. In a LiDAR system, used for detecting objects in autonomous vehicle applications, speed and accuracy of detection is critical. As demonstrated by this board, the rapid transition capability of eGaN FETs provide power pulses to drive the laser up to ten times faster than an equivalent MOSFET, thus enhancing the overall performance of a LiDAR system.

In a dedicated hospitality suite at CES, the premier global event in consumer electronics, EPC will show how GaN is a core technology behind autonomous vehicles, the house of the future without power cords, the connected car, and non-invasive colonoscopies with an x-ray system within a pill.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — December 2016 — Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) will be hosting a hospitality suite in the Mandalay Bay hotel at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, January 5^th through the 8^th.

Wireless charging systems resulting from the WiTricity, ASD, and EPC collaboration will be on display at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017, January 5th – 8th, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - Efficient Power Conversion Corporation (EPC) announces accelerated efforts to build magnetic resonance based wireless charging systems based on WiTricity’s reference designs that feature gallium nitride (GaN)-based solutions with ASD Technology Limited (ASD). This ramp-up in activity is in response to recently rising customer and end-system manufacturer interests in wireless charging products using gallium nitride technology.

Velodyne LiDAR Inc., the recognized global leader in Light, Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology, today announced a groundbreaking design for a solid-state LiDAR sensor that can deliver a subsystem cost of under $50 U.S. when sold in high-volume manufacturing scale.

Venture Beat
December, 13, 2016
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