EPC Technical Articles

How to Integrate GaN Power Stages for Efficient Battery-Powered BLDC Motor Propulsion Systems

This article discusses the advantages of GaN-based power stages and introduces a sample device from EPC, implemented in a half-bridge topology. It explains how to use associated development kits to quickly get started on a project. In the process, designers will learn how to measure the parameters of a BLDC motor and operate it in sensorless field orientation control (FOC) with minimal programming effort using Microchip Technology’s motorBench Development Suite.

Digi-Key Electronics
April, 2023
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Interview with Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) Corporation

Easy Engineering interviewed EPC’s Director of Marketing, Renee Yawger, on the current state of GaN adoption and the future of GaN technology.

Easy Engineering
May, 2022
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Utilizing GaN Inverters for Battery-Powered Motor Drive Applications

GaN transistors and ICs increase power density in motor drive applications. An optimal lay-out approach allows obtaining ring-free output switching waveforms and clean current reconstruction signals either from leg shunts or from in-phase shunts.

EEPower
October, 2021
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1.5kW GaN Inverter for Battery-Powered Motor Drive Applications

GaN transistors and ICs increase power density in motor drive applications. An optimal lay-out approach allows obtaining ring-free output switching waveforms and clean current reconstruction signals either from leg shunts or from in-phase shunts.

Bodo’s Power Systems
June, 2021
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Product roundup: GaN power semiconductors gain traction

(Image: Yole)

Manufacturers of GaN power semiconductors showcased their latest products, from 100 V to 650-V devices at PCIM Europe. PCIM Europe showcased several presentations about the benefits and use cases of wide bandgap (WGG) semiconductors, including gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC). Several manufacturers, including EPC, GaN Systems, Infineon, Nexperia, and STMicroelectronics announced several new families of GaN power semiconductors during the week.

Electronic Products
May, 2021
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GaN ePower Stage IC-Based Inverter for Battery-Powered Motor Drive Applications

GaN transistors and ICs allow increasing power density in motor drive applications by eliminating electrolytic capacitors in the input filter. The superior switching behavior of GaN helps to remove dead time and obtain un-matched sinusoidal voltage and current waveforms for smoother, silent operation.

Bodo’s Power Systems
April, 2021
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Redefining Power Conversion with Gallium Nitride (GaN) Integrated Circuits

GaN technology is developing rapidly with frequent releases of new generations of discrete devices that become the platform for new generations of more efficient, smaller, and lower cost integrated circuits. GaN integrated circuits make products smaller, faster, more efficient, and easier to design.

Power Systems Design
March, 2021 (page 36)
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How GaN Integrated Circuits Are Redefining Power Conversion

Gallium nitride (GaN) power devices have been in production for over 10 years and, beyond just performance and cost improvements, the most significant opportunity for GaN technology to impact the power conversion market comes from the intrinsic ability to integrate multiple devices on the same substrate. This capability will allow monolithic power systems to be designed on a single chip in a more straightforward, higher efficiency, and more cost-effective way.

Power Electronic News
March, 2021
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Laser Driver IC Could Spur Burst Of Activity In Lidar Applications

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
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Gallium Nitride Integration: Breaking Down Technical Barriers Quickly

An integrated circuit made using GaN-on-Si substrates has been in production for over five years. The ultimate goal is to achieve a single component IC that merely requires a simple digital input from a microcontroller and produces a power output that drives a load efficiently, reliably under all conditions, in the smallest space possible, and economically. Discrete power transistors, whether silicon-based or GaN-on-Si, are entering their final chapter. Integrated GaN-on-Si can offer higher performance in a smaller footprint with significantly reduced engineering required.

IEEE Power Electronics Magazine
March 2020
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APEC 2019 Video

Efficient Power Conversion, is at the forefront of GaN-based device development. In this video, EPC CEO Alex Lidow talks with Alix Paultre about the various design-ins at the show that underscore the advantages GaN-based devices can provide.

Embedded Computer Design
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Silicon is Dead

EPC CEO & Co-Founder, Alex Lidow delivers a presentation entitled, Silicon is Dead in the Ridley Engineering booth at APEC 2019.

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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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Why experts believe cheaper, better lidar is right around the corner

This article takes a deep dive into lidar technology. It explains how the technology works and the challenges technologists face as they try to build lidar sensors that meet the demanding requirements for commercial self-driving cars.

The bottom line is that while bringing lidar costs down will take a significant amount of difficult engineering work, there don't seem to be any fundamental barriers to bringing the cost of high-quality lidar down below $1,000—and eventually below $100. That means the technology—and ultimately, self-driving vehicles that depend on lidar—should be well within reach for ordinary consumers.

Ars Techinca
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eGaN Technology Reliability and Physics of Failure - Gate Voltage Stress Reliability

The previous installment in this series focused on the physics of failure surrounding thermo-mechanical reliability of EPC eGaN wafer level chip-scale packages. A fundamental understanding of the potential failure modes under voltage bias is also important. This installment will provide an overview of the physics of failure associated with voltage bias at the gate electrode of gallium nitride (GaN) field effect transistors (FETs). Here we look at the case of taking the gate control voltage to the specified limit and beyond to investigate how eGaN FETs behave over a projected lifetime.

Planet Analog
Chris Jakubiec
November 29, 2016
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eGaN Technology Reliability and Physics of Failure - Strain on solder joints

The first three installments in this series covered field reliability experience and stress test qualification of EPC’s enhancement-mode gallium nitride (eGaN) field effect transistors (FETs) and integrated circuits (ICs). Excellent field reliability that was documented is the result of applying stress tests covering the intended operating conditions the devices will experience within applications. Of equal importance is understanding the underlying physics of how eGaN devices will fail when stressed beyond intended operating conditions (e.g. datasheet parameters and safe operating area). This installment will take a deeper dive into the physics of failure centered around thermo-mechanical reliability of eGaN wafer level chip-scale packages (WLCSP).

Planet Analog
Chris Jakubiec
September 7, 2016
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eGaN Technology Reliability and Physics of Failure Blog #3

The first two installments in this series reported in detail on field reliability experience of Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) Corporation’s enhancement-mode gallium nitride (eGaN®) FETs and integrated circuits (ICs). The excellent field reliability of eGaN devices demonstrates stress-based qualification testing is capable of ensuring reliability in customer applications. In this installment we will examine the stress tests that EPC devices are subjected to prior to being considered qualified products.

Planet Analog
Chris Jakubiec
July 9, 2016
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eGaN Technology Reliability and Physics of Failure - Examining eGaN Field Reliability

Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) Corporation’s enhancement-mode gallium nitride (eGaN®) FETs and integrated circuits (ICs) are finding their way into many end user applications such as LIDAR, wireless charging, DC-DC conversion, RF base station transmission, satellite systems, and audio amplifiers.

Field reliability is the ultimate metric that corroborates the quality level of eGaN® FETs and ICs that have been deployed in customer applications. In our first installment we provided an overview of eGaN FET field reliability which included 6 years of volume production shipment, and greater than 17 billion total device hours recorded. A subsequent calculated Failure In Time (FIT – failures in 109 hours) of approximately 0.24 FITs shows excellent field reliability performance to date.

Plant Analog
Chris Jakubiec
May 1, 2016
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