In this episode of PowerUP featuring Alex Lidow, CEO of EPC, we delve into an examination of the revolutionary implications of GaN technology across a range of applications, with a specific focus on motor control and LiDAR systems.

Power Electronics News
February, 2024
Listen to podcast

Power-conversion technologies are experiencing the first tectonic shift since the move from bipolar to MOS. That shift, of course, is due to the viral adoption of wide-bandgap power devices. At this point, GaN is more than a specialty technology; it is a broad-scale replacement for silicon MOSFETs in applications ranging from 30 V up to 650 V — a multibillion-dollar market.

Power Electronics News
December, 2022
Read article

The year 2021 was a transitional year in which the world decided to open its doors to GaN. In this interview with Power Electronics News during CES week, GaN industry experts confirmed that GaN is now proving its superiority over silicon.

Power Electronics News
January, 2022
Read article

The new gallium nitride (GaN) family aims to deliver time-of-flight (ToF) applications for autonomous cars and 3D sensing across the consumer and industrial sectors. In an interview with EE Times, Alex Lidow, CEO at EPC, highlighted how introducing the eToF Laser Driver family’s for LiDAR system design at a low cost competes with the Mosfet when it comes to LiDAR applications.

EEWeb
September, 2021
Read article

Gallium nitride and silicon carbide are designated wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductors based on the energy required to shift electrons in these materials from the valence to the conduction band — about 3.2 eV for SiC and 3.4 eV for GaN, compared with just 1.1 eV for silicon. The WBG properties lead to a higher applicable breakdown voltage, which can reach up to 1,700 V in some applications. At this year’s digital only PCIM Europe, held in May, several companies showed their latest innovations in GaN and SiC and offered insights on where WBG technology is headed.

EE Times – Europe
July, 2021
Read article

New family of laser driver IC products will enable faster adoption and increased ubiquity of ToF solutions across a wider array of end-user applications.

How2Power
March, 2021
Read article

An automotive application using GaN power devices in high volume is lidar(light detection and ranging) for autonomous vehicles. Lidar technology provides information about a vehicle’s surroundings, thus requiring high accuracy and reliability to ensure safety and performance. This article will discus a novel testing mechanism developed by EPC to test eGaN devices beyond the qualification requirements of the Automotive Electronics Council (AEC) for the specific use case of lidar.

Power Systems Design
December, 2020
Read article

Gallium nitride FETs have continued to gain traction in many power electronic applications, but GaN technology is still in the early part of its life cycle. While there is much room to improve basic FET performance figures of merit an even more promising avenue is the development of GaN power ICs.

Bodo’s Power Systems
November, 2020
Read article

Silicon power MOSFETs have not kept pace with the evolutionary changes in the power electronics industry, where factors such as efficiency, power density, and smaller form factors are the main demands of the community. Silicon MOSFETs have reached their theoretical limits for power electronics, and with board space at a premium, power system designers need alternatives. Gallium nitride (GaN) is a high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) semiconductor that is adding real value in emerging applications.

EETimes
August, 2020
Read article

Gallium nitride (GaN) power devices have been in volume production since March 2010 and have established a remarkable field-reliability record. An automotive application using GaN power devices in high volume is lidar (light detection and ranging) for autonomous vehicles. Lidar technology provides information about a vehicle’s surroundings, thus requiring high accuracy and reliability to ensure safety and performance. This article will discuss a novel testing mechanism developed by Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) to test eGaN devices beyond the qualification requirements of the Automotive Electronics Council (AEC) for the specific use case of lidar.

eeNews Europe
July 30, 2020
Read article

Alex Lidow is the CEO of Efficient Power Conversion, probably the most prominent advocate for gallium nitride, delivering the first GaN transistor in 2009. After a decade of selling products, DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK editor Ralf Higgelke met him to discuss some of the latest advances in that area.

DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK
February 20, 2020
Read article

It’s getting harder to avoid using GaN power transistors and ICs, says Alex Lidow. There are many reasons to use GaN-on-Si power transistors such as eGaN FETs, in telecoms, vehicles, healthcare and computing. Smaller, faster, lower cost, and more integrated, GaN-on-Si devices have spent a decade gaining the confidence and trust of designers across the spectrum of power conversion applications.

Electronic Specifier
November 20, 2019
Read article

Ahead of December’s Power Conference in Munich, Bodo Arlt took the opportunity to get an insight into Alex Lidow’s thoughts on where the GaN market is now and where he sees the potential applications for the future. Dr. Lidow is the CEO and Co-founder of Efficient Power Conversion (EPC).

Bodo’s Power Systems
November, 2019
Read article

This year’s PCIM Europe was attended by a record number of visitors, over 12,000. Over half (54%) were from outside Germany. They came to see over 500 exhibitors and while the subject matter was diverse and wide-ranging, there were some themes that emerged. GaN and SiC jostled for attention at this year’s PCIM Europe. Showing the potential that GaN has already realised, Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) had a stand that was well-stocked with examples of the eGaN FET technology that the company introduced in 2009.

Electronic Specifier
Read article

In the final installment of this series, how GaN has met the requirements to displace silicon is explored. As the adoption rate of GaN explodes, it is important to remember that, while GaN has made many advancements in just a few short years, it is still far from its theoretical performance limitations and thus there are profound improvements that can continue to be achieved. In time, the performance and cost advantages of GaN-on-silicon will result in a majority of applications currently using silicon-based devices converting to the smaller, faster, cheaper, and more reliable GaN technology.

Power Systems Design
February, 2019
Read article

In the first article in this series, how gallium nitride (GaN)-on-silicon low voltage power devices have enabled many new applications, such as light detection and ranging (LiDAR), envelope tracking, and wireless power was discussed. In this article, more detail on one of these leading applications, LiDAR, will be explored. How GaN is being used to make LiDAR systems that see farther, with higher resolution, and at lower cost will be shown.

Power Systems Design
Read article

With the rise of autonomous cars and electric propulsion as driving forces in automotive applications, a huge new market for power devices based on gallium nitride grown on a silicon substrate (GaN-on-Si) is emerging.

Design World
Read article

Gallium nitride(GaN)-on-silicon low voltage power devices have enabled many new applications since commercial availability began in 2010. New markets, such as light detection and ranging (LiDAR), envelope tracking, and wireless power, emerged due to the superior switching speed of GaN. These new applications have helped develop a strong supply chain, low production costs, and an enviable reliability record. All of this provides adequate incentive for the more conservative design engineers in applications, such as dc–dc converters, ac–dc converters, and automotive to start their evaluation process. In this series, a few of the many, high volume applications taking advantage of GaN to achieve new levels of end-product differentiation will be discussed. First, it is useful to explore the factors attributing to the rapid acceleration of the adoption rate.

Power Systems Design
Read article

The reason eGaN FETs (and now ICs) are used in all the LiDAR systems for autonomous cars, and now autonomous race cars, is that they enable much higher resolution (due to extremely short laser pulses), faster image speed (due to short laser pulses), and the ability to see greater distances with high accuracy (due to fast laser pulses at very high current).

Planet Analog
Read article

For LiDAR systems to meet ever-higher performance specs, they must perform fast switching of high-current pulses, which is where a gallium-nitride power switch can step in to help.

Electronic Design
Read article