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Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) Introduces Wide-Input, 20 Amp GaN-Based Buck Converter Demonstration Board for Telecom, Industrial, and Medical Applications

Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) Introduces Wide-Input, 20 Amp GaN-Based Buck Converter Demonstration Board for Telecom, Industrial, and Medical Applications

EPC9118 demonstrates size reduction and efficiency enhancement for power conversion readily achieved using high frequency switching eGaN® FETs for supply voltages up to 48 V or more.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.—October 2014 — Efficient Power Conversion Corporation (EPC) introduces the EPC9118, a fully functional buck power conversion demonstration circuit. This board is a 30 V-60 V input to 5 V, 20 A maximum output current, 400 kHz buck converter. It features the EPC2001 and EPC2015 enhancement-mode (eGaN®) field effect transistors (FETs), as well as the LTC3891 buck controller. This buck converter design is ideal for distributed power solutions in telecom, industrial, and medical applications.

The EPC9118 board contains the complete power stage (including eGaN FETs, driver, inductor and input/output caps) in a compact 1” x 1.3” layout to showcase the performance that can be achieved using the eGaN FETs and a traditional MOSFET controller together. The EPC9118 demonstration board is 2.5” square and contains a fully closed loop buck converter with optimized control loop.

Despite its small size, the board has peak power efficiency greater than 93% capable of delivering 20 amps at 5 volts with a 36 V input. To assist the design engineer, the EPC9118 demonstration board is easy to set up and contains various probe points to facilitate simple waveform measurement and efficiency calculation.

A Quick Start Guide containing set up procedures, circuit diagram, performance curves and a bill of material is available at https://epc-co.com/epc/products/evaluation-boards/EPC9118.aspx

EPC9118 demo boards are priced at $237.19 each and are available for immediate delivery from Digi-Key at https://www.digikey.com/en/supplier-centers/epc

Design Information and Support for eGaN FETs:

About EPC

EPC is the leader in enhancement mode gallium nitride based power management devices. EPC was the first to introduce enhancement-mode gallium-nitride-on-silicon (eGaN) FETs as power MOSFET replacements in applications such as DC-DC converters, wireless power transfer, envelope tracking, RF transmission, power inverters,