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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Alex Lidow is the CEO of Efficient Power Conversion, probably the most prominent advocate for gallium nitride, delivering the first GaN transistor in 2009. After a decade of selling products, DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK editor Ralf Higgelke met him to discuss some of the latest advances in that area.

DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK
February 20, 2020
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Ultra-fast transition eGaN^® FETs from Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) on the EPC9144 drive high current pulses up to 28 A with pulse widths as low as 1.2 ns, enhancing the accuracy, precision, and processing speed of ToF and flash lidar systems.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.— January, 2020 — EPC announces the availability of the EPC9144, a 15 V, 28 A high current pulsed laser diode driver demonstration board.

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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Smaller, faster, lower cost, and more integrated, GaN-on-Silicon devices have the confidence of designers across a spectrum of power conversion applications. In this article, Alex Lidow explains why it’s getting harder to avoid using GaN power transistors and ICs.

Electronic Specifier
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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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Ahead of December’s Power Conference in Munich, Bodo Arlt took the opportunity to get an insight into Alex Lidow’s thoughts on where the GaN market is now and where he sees the potential applications for the future. Dr. Lidow is the CEO and Co-founder of Efficient Power Conversion (EPC).

Bodo’s Power Systems
November, 2019
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GaN and SiC are becoming much more attractive as prices drop. Several vendors are rolling out the next wave of power semiconductors based on gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC), setting the stage for a showdown against traditional silicon-based devices in the market.

Semiconductor Engineering
October, 2019
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Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) expands AEC Q101 product family with the addition of the EPC2216, 15 V gallium nitride transistor optimized for affordable, high performance lidar systems.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.— October 2019 — EPC announces successful AEC Q101 qualification of the 15 V EPC2216 designed for lidar applications where increased accuracy is vital such as in self-driving cars and other time-of-flight (TOF) applications including facial recognition, warehouse automation, drones and mapping.

GaN transistors, with favorable figures of merit (FOM) for 48 V applications, can provide a reduction in size, weight, and bill of material costs. This article presents a five-phase, fully regulated, bidirectional 48 V to 12 V DC-DC converter. An advancedthermalmanagement solution suitable for use with eGaN FETs results in a system that can provide 3kW of power at an efficiency exceeding 97.5% into a 14.5 V battery.

Power Systems Design
July, 2019
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Today’s GaN FETs are improving rapidly in size and performance. The benchmark devices are still 300 times away from their theoretical performance limits. The early GaN adopters needed the speed. Big examples were lidar systems for autonomous cars, drones, and robots, and 4G/LTE base stations. The volume has grown, and now GaN power devices are at a point where the prices are equivalent to the slower, bigger and aging power MOSFET. Thus, it is time for GaN’s frontal assault!

Bodo’s Power Systems
June 2019
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Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) expands AEC Q101 product family with the addition of the EPC2214, 80 V gallium nitride transistor optimized for high resolution lidar systems.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.— April 2019 — EPC announces successful AEC Q101 qualification of the 80 V EPC2214 designed for lidar systems in the automotive industry and other harsh environments. 

Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) has recently introduced two new, 100V, GaN devices that are able to handle 48V server and automotive needs. I will be examining the 48V server power solutions to the processor as well as in automotive and energy storage systems (See my article Bi-directional DC/DC power supplies: Which way do we go?) bi-directional supplies, in an EDN exclusive article coming up in the near future. GaN power transistors MUST be a part of these kinds of architectures; from my point-of-view there is no better alternative.

Planet Analog
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EPC will exhibit live demonstrations showing how GaN technology’s superior performance is transforming power delivery for entire industries including computing, communications, and automotive.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — March 2019 — The EPC team will be delivering eleven technical presentations on gallium nitride (GaN) technology and applications at APEC 2019 in Anaheim, California from March 17^th through the 21^st. In addition, the company will demonstrate its latest eGaN FETs and ICs in customers’ end products that are enabled by eGaN technology.

EPC’s Phase Ten Reliability Report adds to the growing knowledge base published in the first nine reports. With this report, EPC has stress-tested over 30,000 parts for a total of over 18 million hours without failure.  There have been no field failures in over two years despite shipping millions of parts.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.— February 2019 — EPC announces its Phase Ten Reliability Report, documenting the test results leading to the successful completion of automotive AEC-Q101 qualification. AEC-Q101 demands the highest level of reliability standards for power FETs, requiring not only zero datasheet failures, but also low parametric drift during stress testing.  Of note is that EPC’s WLCS packaging passed all the same testing standards created for conventional packaged parts, demonstrating that the superior performance of chip-scale packaging does not compromise ruggedness or reliability.

Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) expands AEC Q101 product family with the addition of two new gallium nitride devices.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.— January 2019 — EPC announces successful AEC Q101 qualification of two additional eGaN devices, addressing a range of applications in the automotive industry and other harsh environments.  The new products, EPC2206, and EPC2212 are both discrete transistors in wafer level chip-scale packaging (WLCS) with 80 V_DS and 100 V_DS ratings respectively.

Within the EPC hospitality suite, wirelessly powered systems for the home and GaN based, industry-leading LiDAR systems used in autonomous vehicles will be on display.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — December 2018 — Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) will be demonstrating the power of eGaN^® technology to enhance two game-changing consumer applications – wireless power and LiDAR for self-driving cars – at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, January 8^th through the 11^th.

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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In this episode of the PSDcast, we’re talking to Alex Lidow from Efficient Power Conversion about gallium nitride’s (GaN) application in connected automobiles.

Power Systems Design
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