EPC Technical Articles

The Power and Evolution of GaN, Part 3: How to Build an Ultra-Fast High-Power Laser Driver using eGaN FETs - That Sees Farther, Better, and at a Lower Cost!

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
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Gallium nitride is the silicon of the future

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.

The Verge
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Building the Smallest and Most Efficient 48 V to 5 - 12 V DC to DC using eGaN FETs and ICs

The Power and Evolution of GaN – Part 2 of 6 part series

With the power architecture transition from a 12 V to a 48 V bus power distribution in modern data centers, there is an increased demand to improve 48 V power conversion efficiency and power density. In this context, DC-DC converters designed using eGaN® FETs and ICs provide a high efficiency and high power density solution. Additionally, with the advent of 48 V power systems in mild-hybrid, hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, GaN transistors can provide a reduction in size, weight, and Bill of Materials (BOM) cost.

Power Systems Design
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GaN-Based VRM Hybrid Converter Achieves 95% Efficiency for 48V to 1-2V/10A Power Conversion

With the emergence of the 48V bus architecture, a new hybrid converter using gallium nitride (GaN) transistors can be employed which achieves a peak efficiency that exceeds 95% and with 225W/in3 power density. Of great interest for data center applications, where light load efficiency is critical for energy savings, the converter efficiency is kept higher than 90% down to a 20% load.

PowerPulse
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GaN-on-Silicon Power Devices: How to Dislodge Silicon-Based Power MOSFETs

Gallium nitride (GaN) power transistors designed for efficient power conversion have been in production for seven years. New markets, such as light detection and ranging, envelope tracking, and wireless charging, have emerged due to the superior switching speed of GaN. These markets have enabled GaN products to achieve significant volumes, low production costs, and an enviable reliability reputation. 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. So what are the remaining barriers to the conversion of the US$12 billion silicon power metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) market? In a word: confidence. Design engineers, manufacturing engineers, purchasing managers, and senior management all need to be confident that GaN will provide benefits that more than offset the risk of adopting a new technology. Let's look at three key risk factors: supply chain risk, cost risk, and reliability risk.

IEEE Spectrum
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Connected Vehicles Will Make Their Connections Through Gallium Nitride

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
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The Power and Evolution of GaN

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
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Designing LiDAR and more into Autonomous E racing

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
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GaN Devices Power the Next Generation of LiDAR Systems

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
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How eGaN FETs power LIDAR

LIDAR is presently a subject of great interest, primarily due to its widespread adoption in autonomous navigation systems for vehicles, robots, drones, and other mobile machines. eGaN devices are one of the main factors in making affordable, high performance LIDAR possible in a small form factor thus further fueling the LIDAR revolution.

EDN
By John Glaser
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The Growing Ecosystem for eGaN FET Power Conversion

In recent years, GaN-based power conversion has increased in popularity due to the inherent benefits of eGaN FETs over conventional Si transistors. Migrating a converter design from Si to GaN offers many system-level improvements, which require consideration of all the components in that system. This trend has subsequently spurred a growth in the ecosystem of power electronics that support GaN-based designs.

Power Systems Designs
By Edward A. Jones, Michael de Rooij, and David Reusch
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eGaN FET-Based Synchronous Rectification

As GaN-on-Si becomes more common in DC-DC converter designs, questions often arise from experienced designers about the impact of the unique characteristics of GaN transistors when used as synchronous rectifiers (SRs). In particular, the third quadrant off-state characteristics, better known as “body diode” conduction in Si MOSFETs, which is activated during converter dead-time, is of interest. For this article, the focus will be on the similarities and differences of Si MOSFETs and eGaN® FETs when operated as a “body diode” and outline their relative advantages and disadvantages.

Bodo’s Power Systems
By David Reusch & John Glaser
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Evaluation of measurement techniques for high speed GaN transistors

The increase in switching speed offered by GaN transistors requires good measurement technology, as well as good techniques to capture important details of high-speed waveforms. This article focuses on how to leverage the measurement equipment for the user’s requirement and measurement techniques to accurately evaluate high performance GaN transistors. The article also evaluates high bandwidth differential probes for use with non-ground-referenced waveforms.

EDN Network
By Suvankar Biswas , David Reusch & Michael de Rooij
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EPC at APEC 2018 by EE Online

EPC CEO & Co-Founder, Alex Lidow gives Lee Teschler from EE World Online a tour of the EPC booth at APEC 2018 where EPC demonstrations included a high-power density 48 V – 12 V non-isolated converter capable of delivering over 700 W. In addition, a range of 3-D real-time LiDAR imaging sensors used in autonomous vehicles were displayed. Also, a single desktop implementing a high power resonant wireless charging solution capable of generating 300 W to wirelessly power a wide range of devices including cell phones, notebook computers, monitors, wireless speakers, smart watches, and table lamps.

View videos below.

How eGaN Transistor Technology Improves LiDAR Performance
Why Gate Drivers are Joining eGaN Transistors on the Same Chip
Graphics-Intensive Applications Benefit From Power-Dense eGaN® DC-DC Converters

Diversity of trends in wireless power charging at APEC 2018

Wireless power charging was a big point of discussion with a number of different solutions on the APEC 2018 exhibit floor. The following wireless charging solutions had unique aspects in their strategies; let’s take a look at what I saw over the last few days.

EDN Network
By Steve Taranovich
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Alex Lidow walks Alix Paultre through the EPC booth at APEC 2018

In this video Alex Lidow, Founder and CEO of EPC, talks to Alix Paultre, Editor-in-Chief of Power Electronics News, about the various demonstrations of GaN-based solutions at the EPC booth at APEC 2018 in San Antonio, Texas. The high-frequency operation and other advanced performance advantages over Silicon enables GaN to empower applications from LIDAR to wireless power transmission. The booth exhibits include examples of these, from a real-time LIDAR demonstration to a running "wireless desk".

Power Electronics News
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Creating LIDAR apps with GaN speed, size, and power advantages

LIDAR is made up of a laser (or arrays) capable of transmitting pulsed light over the required range of interest, and a high-speed, low-noise receiver for reflected signal analysis. A portion of this light is reflected or scattered back to the receiver according to the reflectivity of the target.

EDN Network
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APEC2018: EPC Professional Education GaN Seminar

Alex Lidow and his team of Michael de Rooij, David Reusch, and John Glaser gave an excellent technical tutorial this morning to a packed audience of Professional Engineers (PEs). The topic was a very timely ‘Maximizing GaN FET and IC performance: Not just a drop-in replacement of MOSFETs’.

Planet Analog
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Gaming laptops will have smaller power supplies with EPC’s gallium nitride chips

Gamers may not care about the finer points of gallium nitride (eGaN) chips as evangelized by power pioneer Alex Lidow, CEO of Efficient Power Conversion (EPC). But they will care that those chips will enable a new generation of gaming laptops with much smaller power supplies than in the past.

Venture Beat
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Will GaN and the Tesla SpaceX car survive space radiation? Yes and no.

Two space travel related stories hit my desktop this week; one that rapidly generated major international headlines and one that slid very quietly onto my email screen.

The headline-hitter was the successful launch of Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket with its payload of a Tesla sports car, complete with a dummy driver at the wheel. The second was about Gallium Nitride technology that would be suitable for space applications.

Electro Pages
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