Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) publishes Phase-12 Reliability Report adding to the extensive knowledge found in their first eleven reports. With this report, EPC demonstrates field experience of 226 billion eGaN ^® device hours and a robustness capability unmatched by silicon power devices.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.— January 2021 — EPC announces its Phase-12 Reliability Report, documenting the strategy used to achieve a remarkable field reliability record. eGaN devices have been in volume production for more than eleven years and have demonstrated very high reliability in over 226 billion hours of operation, most of which are in vehicles, LTE base stations, and satellites, to name just a few applications with rigorous operating conditions.

The combination of MPS (Monolithic Power Systems) controllers with ultra-efficient eGaN^® FETs from EPC (Efficient Power Conversion) enable best-in-class power density of 1700 W/in³ in high efficiency, low cost LLC DC-DC Conversion

Join gallium nitride (GaN) technology experts in the EPC virtual booth at CES to explore how GaN enables enhanced features and performance in consumer electronics by providing higher efficiency, smaller size, and lower cost semiconductor FET and IC solutions.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — January 2021 — Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) announced that it will demonstrate the power of eGaN^® technology to boost performance in game-changing consumer applications including self-driving cars, emobility, drones, robots, and 48-volt power conversion at the All-Digital Consumer Electronics Show (CES) January 11^th through the 14^th.

An automotive application using GaN power devices in high volume is lidar(light detection and ranging) for autonomous vehicles. Lidar technology provides information about a vehicle’s surroundings, thus requiring high accuracy and reliability to ensure safety and performance. This article will discus a novel testing mechanism developed by EPC to test eGaN devices beyond the qualification requirements of the Automotive Electronics Council (AEC) for the specific use case of lidar.

Power Systems Design
December, 2020
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The EPC2152 ePower™ Stage enables higher performance and smaller solution size for high power density, low-cost DC-DC conversion demonstrated in the EPC9151 power module.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.— December, 2020 — EPC announces the availability of the EPC9151, a 300 W bidirectional DC-DC voltage regulator in the in the very small 16^th brick format which is just 33 mm x 22.9 mm (1.3 x 0.9 in). The EPC9151 power module features Microchip’s dsPIC33CK digital signal controller (DSC) with the EPC2152 ePower™ Stage integrated circuit from EPC to achieve greater than 95% efficiency in a 300 W 48 V to/from 12 V converter design.  Additional phases can be added to this scalable 2-phase design to further increase power.

Wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) are the new frontline in power conversion, and that takes design engineers into a whole new frequency spectrum, as well as power density and form factor opportunities.

EDN Editorial Advisory Board
December, 2020
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Efficient Power Conversion Corporation (EPC), the world’s leader in enhancement-mode gallium nitride on silicon (eGaN^®) power FETs and ICs, has won the Contributor of the Year award of the prestigious World Electronics Achievement Awards (WEAA) 2020 for Dr. Alex Lidow, CEO and co-founder of Efficient Power Conversion.

The WEAA scheme honors products, companies and individuals that have made outstanding contributions to the innovation and development of the electronics industry worldwide. A committee comprising of ASPENCORE global senior industry analysts and online users from Asia, the US and Europe select the winners. ASPENCORE is the largest electronics industry media and SaaS group in the world featuring media titles including EE Times and EDN.

Stefan Werkstetter appointed as New Director of Sales for EMEA to focus on assisting customers in the adoption of eGaN^® FETs and Integrated Circuits for applications including DC-DC, lidar, motor control, and other leading-edge power conversion systems

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — November 2020 — To support the continued adoption of gallium nitride (GaN) FETs and Integrated Circuits in the European market, Efficient Power Conversion Corporation (EPC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Stefan Werkstetter as Director, Sales EMEA.

THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minnesota, USA – Digi-Key Electronics, the leading global electronic components distributor, announced that it has partnered with Efficient Power Conversion Corporation (EPC) to host a webinar on how to harness the power of eGaN FETS and ICs for motor drives. The webinar will take place on October 28 at 8 a.m. PST.

Register for the Harness the Power of GaN for Smaller, Lighter, More Precise Motor Drives webinar at EPC’s webinar page

Standard qualification testing for semiconductors typically involves stressing devices at-or-near the limits specified in their data sheets for a prolonged period of time, or for a certain number of cycles, with the goal of demonstrating zero failures. By testing parts to the point of failure, an understanding of the amount of margin beyond the data sheet limits can be developed, but more importantly, an understanding of the intrinsic failure mechanisms of the semiconductor can be found.

Bodo’s Power Systems
September, 2020
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Enhancement-mode gallium nitride (eGaN^®) technology enables a new generation of power converters in space operating at higher frequencies, higher efficiencies, and greater power densities than ever achievable before. eGaN devices also exhibit superior radiation tolerance compared with silicon MOSFETs.

Bodo’s Power Systems
June, 2020
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For over four decades, power management efficiency and cost have improved steadily as innovations in power MOSFET structures, technology, and circuit topologies have kept pace with the growing need for electrical power. In the new millennium, however, the rate of improvement has slowed dramatically as the silicon power MOSFET approaches its theoretical bounds. At the same time, a new material, gallium nitride (GaN) is steadily progressing on its journey toward a theoretical performance boundary that is 6,000 times better than the aging silicon MOSFET and 300 times better than the best GaN products on the market today.

EETimes
June, 2020
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Brushless DC (BLDC) motors are a popular choice and are finding increasing application in robotics, drones, electric bicycles, and electric scooters. All these applications are particularly sensitive to size, weight, cost, and efficiency. A monolithically integrated GaN power stage is demonstrated powering a 400 W capable BLDC motor with low switching losses and significant savings in size and weight.

Power Electronics Europe
May, 2020
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Beyond just performance and cost improvement, the most significant opportunity for GaN technology to impact the power conversion market comes from its intrinsic ability to integrate multiple devices on the same substrate. GaN technology, as opposed to standard silicon IC technology, allows designers to implement monolithic power systems on a single chip in a more straightforward and cost-effective way.

Bodo’s Power Systems
May, 2020
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Starting on page 13 of this story, EPC discusses with David Morrison the latest GaN developments meant for APEC. Alex Lidow, CEO and co-founder of EPC, discussed his company’s new power stage ICs, their development of GaN-based reference designs using a multi-level topology and various demos that were originally bound for APEC.

How2Power Today
April, 2020
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EPC has posted additional modules to the educational video podcast series focusing on reliability and leading-edge applications including high-density computing for Artificial Intelligence (AI), lidar for robots, drones, and cars, and Class-D audio using gallium nitride FETs and ICs.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – April 2020 – Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) Corporation has posted an update to its popular “How to GaN” video podcast series. The six videos included in the current release of the series provide practical examples to help designers employ GaN technology to create state-of-the-art DC-DC converters for AI servers and ultra-thin laptops, lidar for robots, drones, and autonomous cars, and audio systems with the highest quality acoustics possible.

Three years ago, the cost of making medium voltage eGaN FETs fell below the cost of equivalently rated power MOSFETs. At that time EPC decided to use the performance and cost advantages of eGaN FETs to aggressively pursue applications with input, or output, voltage around 48 V. Specifically, automotive and computer applications is where 48 V conversion is becoming the new architecture, the new standard for power systems.

Power Systems Design
March 31, 2020
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EPC’s Phase Eleven Reliability Report adds to the knowledge base published in the first ten reports. With this report, EPC demonstrates field experience of 123 billion device hours and a robustness capability unmatched by silicon power devices.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.— April 2020 — EPC announces its Phase Eleven Reliability Report, documenting the strategy used to achieve a remarkable field reliability record. This strategy relied upon tests forcing devices to fail under a variety of conditions to create stronger products to serve demanding applications such as lidar for autonomous vehicles, LTE base stations, vehicle headlamps, and satellites to name just a few. 

With silicon near its theoretical limits new designs heavily favor the continued adoption of GaN devices. GaN devices are early in their evolution, with advances in performance and integration and more products coming.

Electronics Weekly
December, 2019
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This article discussed an oft forgotten or little-noticed part of the spacecraft enabling travel into outer space---power management in the space vehicle. Wide bandgap semiconductors like gallium nitride (GaN), silicon carbide (SiC), as well as diamond, are looking to be the most promising materials for future electronic components since the discovery of silicon. These technologies, depending upon their design, offer huge advantages in terms of power capability (DC and microwave), radiation insensitivity, high temperature and high frequency operation, optical properties and even low noise capability. Therefore, wide bandgap components are strategically important for the development of next generation space-borne systems. eGaN devices are quickly gaining momentum in the space industry and we will see many more applications for them by NASA and commercial contractors in future programs like Artemis and other programs in countries around the globe pursuing efforts into Space.

Power Systems Design
November, 2019
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