January 2, 2013

In this article we show that enhancement mode GaN transistors enable significant efficiency improvements in resonant topologies and demonstrate a practical example of a wireless power transmission system operating in the 6.78 MHz range.

By Alex Lidow PhD, CEO; Michael deRooij PhD, Executive Director of Application Engineering; David Reusch PhD, Director of Application Engineering, EPC Bodo’s Power Systems (www.bodospower.com)

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The nPower^® PEG is the world's first human-powered charger for hand-held electronics. The product from Tremont Electric uses eGaN® FETs from Efficient Power Conversion Corp. in their nPower PEG (Personal Energy Generator).

http://www.powerpulse.net/story.php?storyID=26832

So far in this series, significant efforts have been made to show the performance improvements that can be achieved with eGaN® FETs over silicon MOSFETS in both hard and soft switching applications. In every case, eGaN FETs showed improvement over MOSFETs. In this volume of the eGaN FET-Silicon power shoot-out series, the die size optimization process is discussed and an example application is used to show specific results.

By Johan Strydom, Ph.D., Vice President of Applications, EPC
Power Electronics Technology

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In this article, we show that high electron densities and very low temperature coefficients give the eGaN FET major advantages over the power MOSFET needed for today’s high performance applications. High electron density yields superior RDS(ON), while positive temperature coefficients inhibit hot spot generation within the die, resulting in superior Safe Operating Area capabilities.

By Yanping Ma, Ph.D., Director of Quality, EPC
Bodo's Power Systems

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The advantages provided by eGaN FETs in hard switching isolated and non-isolated applications have been addressed previously. Here, we demonstrate the ability of the eGaN FET to improve efficiency and output power density in a soft switching application, compared to what is achievable with existing power MOSFET devices.

By David Reusch, Ph.D., Director of Applications, EPC
Power Electronics Technology

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Gallium Nitride transistors have been available since Eudyna and Nitronex first introduced depletion-mode RF transistors in about 2005. Since then many new companies have entered the field with both RF transistors (e.g. RFMD, Triquint, Cree, Freescale, Integra, HRL, M/A-COM, and others), and transistors designed to replace power MOSFETs in power conversion applications (e.g. Transphorm, International Rectifier, GaN Systems, microGaN, and Efficient Power Conversion). This article discusses if this ground swell of activity mean that GaN transistors are ready to replace power MOSFETs, and, if so, why?

By Alex Lidow, Ph.D., CEO, EPC
Power Pulse.Net

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Wireless power applications are gaining popularity in many commodity products such as mobile phones chargers. Enhancement mode gallium nitride transistors offer an alternative to MOSFET technology as they can switch fast enough to be ideal for wireless power applications. This article focuses on experimental evaluation of an induction coil wireless energy system using eGaN FETs operating at 6.78 MHz designed to be suitable for multiple 5 W USB based charging loads.

By Johan Strydom, Ph.D., Vice President of Applications, EPC and Johan Strydom, Ph.D., Vice President of Applications, EPC
Power Electronics Technology

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In this article, we show that using GaN Transistors such as Efficient Power Conversion’s eGaN® FETs can improve the efficiency of isolated eighth brick DC-DC converters. This type of power converters is used extensively in mainframes, servers and telecommunication systems, and is available in a variety of sizes, output power capability, and input and output voltage ranges. Its modularity, power density, reliability and versatility have simplified the isolated power supply market.

By Johan Strydom, Ph.D., Vice President of Applications, EPC
Bodo’s Power Systems

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Envelope tracking (ET) for radio frequency (RF) amplifiers is not new. But with the ever increasing need for improved cell phone battery life, better base station energy efficiency, and more output power from very costly RF transmitters, the need for improving the RF Power Amplifier (PA) system efficiency through ET has become an intense topic of research and development.

We demonstrate what power and efficiency levels are readily realizable using eGaN FETs in a buck converter for high power envelope tracking applications.

By Johan Strydom, Ph.D., Vice President of Applications, EPC Power Electronics Technology

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The eGaN FET is a viable and efficient alternative to standard MOSFET solutions in Power over Ethernet (PoE) applications. These FETs enable higher operating frequencies that can be leveraged into reduced converter size and cost. Both 13W and 26W PoE eGaN FET converters were built and evaluated side by side with standard MOSFET designs. In every instance, eGaN FET converters exhibited higher efficiencies with the potential of reducing system cost over their MOSFET counterparts.

By Johan Strydom, Ph.D., Vice President of Applications, EPC
Michael de Rooij, Ph.D., Director of Applications, EPC
March 1, 2011

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eGaN FETs differ from silicon MOSFETs in part because of their significantly faster switching speeds. In the second article of this series, we explore the different requirements for gate drive, layout, and thermal management.

By Johan Strydom PHD, Director of Application Engineering, EPC
Power Electronics Technology
January 1, 2011

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As enhancement mode gallium-nitride-on-silicon transistors (eGaN™) gain wider acceptance as the successor to the venerable - but aged - power MOSFET, designers have been able to improve power conversion efficiency, size, and cost. eGaN FETs, however, are based on a relatively new and immature technology with limited design infrastructure to quickly design and implement products.

By Johan Strydom PhD, Director of Application Engineering EPC
Bodo’s Power Systems
November, 2010

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Efficient Power Conversion’s (EPC) enhancement-mode gallium-nitride (eGaN) power transistors, although similar to standard power MOSFETs, deliver performance unattainable by silicon-based devices.

Yanping Ma, PhD, Efficient Power Conversion, El Segundo, Calif.
How2Power
October, 2010

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The recent introduction of enhancement mode GaN transistors (eGaN™) as power MOSFET/ IGBT replacements in power management applications enables many new products that promise to add great system value. In general, an eGaN transistor behaves much like a power MOSFET with a quantum leap in performance, but to extract all of the newly-available eGaN transistor performance requires designers to understand the differences in drive requirements.

By Johan Strydom and Alex Lidow
September, 2010

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One yardstick to compare enhancement mode GaN (eGaN) power devices with state-of-the-art silicon MOSFETs is FOM. However, beyond these pure mathematical numbers, there are other device and package related parameters that significantly influence in-circuit performance.

By Johan Strydom PHD, Director of Application Engineering, EPC
Power Electronics Technology
September 1, 2010

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Thirty years of silicon power-MOSFET development has taught us that one of the key variables controlling the adoption rate of a disruptive technology is how easy the new technology is to use. This principle has guided the design of EPC’s enhancement-mode GaN (eGaN) transistors. This article explains why eGaN devices are easy to use, describing how they operate and their similarities and differences versus power MOSFETs.

By Johan Strydom
How2Power
June, 2010

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Due to its advantages GaN will probably become the dominant technology. GaN has a much higher critical electric field than silicon which enables this new class of devices to withstand much greater voltage from drain to source with much less penalty in on-resistance.

By Alex Lidow, PhD
Bodo’s Power Systems
June, 2010

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Recent breakthroughs by EPC in processing gallium nitride (GaN) have produced enhancement-mode devices with high conductivity and hyper-fast switching, with a silicon-like cost structure and fundamental operating mechanism.

By Robert Beach, Steve Colino
Electronic Design
April 29, 2010

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For the past three decades, Silicon-based power management efficiency and cost have shown steady improvement. In the last few years, however, the rate of improvement has slowed as the Silicon power MOSFET has asymptotically approached its theoretical bounds. Gallium Nitride grown on top of a silicon substrate could displace Silicon across a significant portion of the power management market.

By Alex Lidow, PhD
Power Electronics Europe
Issue 2, 2010

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