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
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EPC, a leader in enhancement-mode gallium-nitride (GaN) FETs and ICs, delivered multiple technical presentations on GaN technology and showcased applications at PCIM Europe 2023 in Nuremburg. We spoke with the company's Founder and CEO, Alex Lidow, about the power industry and how it's being impacted by GaN devices.

Electronic Design
May, 2023
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From Nov. 15 to 18, electronica 2022 will bring the international electronics industry together at the Munich exhibition grounds. Wide Bandgap Semiconductors, Renewable Energies, Smart Grid, and Energy Storage will be the major topics covered by the Power Electronics Forum at electronica 2022. In this podcast, onsemi president and CEO Hassane El-Khoury, Silanna Semiconductor North America CEO Mark Drucker, and of Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) CEO Alex Lidow will introduce the Power Electronics Forum. Interview with Alex Lidow starts at 31:55

EETimes
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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
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It’s okay to start using gallium-nitride (GaN) devices in your new designs. GaN transistors have become extremely popular in recent years. These wide-bandgap devices have been replacing LDMOS transistors in many power applications. For example, GaN devices are broadly being adopted for new RF power amplifiers used in cellular base stations, radar, satellites, and other high-frequency applications. In general, their ability to endure higher voltages and operate at frequencies well into the millimeter-wave (mmWave) range have them replacing traditional RF power transistors in most amplifier configurations.

Electronic Design
November, 2019
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GaN technology has matured to a point where it can challenge traditional silicon technology.  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 article, the factors leading to the rapid acceleration of the adoption rate are explored.

Electronics Weekly
January 2019
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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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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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The year is 2022. You sit down at your office desk, back from Ikea with your new lamp. You take it out of the box, place it on the table, and it illuminates the workspace immediately. You then take your MacBook out of your backpack, place it to the right of the lamp, and it starts charging instantly. It sounds unreasonable to think that all this could become reality in just a few years. But behind closed doors, this technology already exists.

“A couple of months ago, we demonstrated an entire table top where everything on it was powered wirelessly,” Alex Lidow, CEO of EPC, tells Inverse. “A lamp, computer monitor, computer, cell phones being charged… all sorts of stuff.”

Inverse Innovation
August, 2017
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Since Nikola Tesla first experimented with wireless power during the early 1900s, there has been a quest to “cut the cord” – and go wireless. Today’s applications for wireless power undoubtedly extend far beyond Tesla’s wildest imagination, as we now have the ability to wirelessly charge cell phones, power tools, and even buses while at their scheduled stops, not to mention airborne drones while flying. However, despite strong consumer and business demand for wireless charging, power cords still reign. What explains the lag in our ability to power all of our electronic devices and appliances wirelessly?

ITProPortal
August 2, 2017
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During our lifetime furniture design has been primarily dictated by style. However, as we become gradually more entangled in the internet of things, function is going to become increasingly important.

Future of Everything
July 20, 2017
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GaN power element technology has found its way into a major application in the industry with the release of the Dell Latitude computer using the AirFuel standard.

Planet Analog
July 19, 2017
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Tech-sector veteran Alex Lidow is on a mission to end the reliance on power cords to operate your electronic devices.

Seeker
June 15, 2017
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With the current maturity of Class-D audio amplifier architectures, amplifier fidelity and efficiency limitations are primarily at the device level. Silicon MOSFETs have been evolving for almost forty years, and their progress towards a perfect switch has slowed dramatically. There are some fundamental characteristics of MOSFETs that degrade sound quality and efficiency. In 2010, the enhancement mode Gallium nitride (GaN) power FET was introduced by Efficient Power Conversion (EPC), providing a large step towards the perfect switch.

Audio Engineering Society
May 11, 2017
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Wireless charging promises a cord-free future, one that offers freedom from being tethered to the end of a charging cable. One company might have its finger on the pulse for this wirelessly powered future. Alexander Lidow is the CEO and founder of Efficient Power Conversion, a company looking to expand upon its namesake. EPC most notably displays how it wants to revolutionize wireless charging with a seemingly simple desktop.

Interesting Engineering
May 23, 2017
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Wireless charging is not a new topic—it has been talked about for quite a while. Unfortunately, it has not seen widespread consumer acceptance. But, with a recently developed innovative approach to the design of transmission coils, wireless power is ready for widespread application.

How2Power
May, 2017
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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.

Alex Lidow
March, 2017
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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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Gallium Nitride ICs: Increasing server power efficiencies - Reducing waste power, cooling, and space aren't just data-center-size concerns; they're also battles fought inside the confines of each rack. And, sometimes, even one small change can make a big difference.

TechBeacon
August 2, 2016
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