In last month’s Safety & Compliance column in How2Power, “WBG Semiconductors Pose Safety And EMI Challenges In Motor Drive Applications,”[1]Kevin Parmenter made some assertions about the difficulties of using SiC, and to a lesser extent GaN, power semiconductors in large motor-drive applications. This commentary is a response to that article, showing that GaN can be a game changer in low-voltage integrated motors.

How2Power
February, 2021
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Gallium nitride (GaN) devices offer performance in a small form factor, increasing the efficiency, and reducing the system cost for 48 V power conversion applications. They have been adopted in high volumes in high density computing, as well as many new automotive power system designs.

Electronic Specifier
February, 2021
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The combination of the Renesas dual synchronous GaN buck controller and ultra-efficient eGaN^® FETs from EPC (Efficient Power Conversion) enables high power density and efficiency with the same BOM size and cost as silicon.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.—  February, 2021 — EPC announces the availability of the EPC9157, a 300 W DC-DC demo board in the tiny 1/16^th brick size, measuring just 33 mm x 22.9 mm x 9mm (1.3 x 0.9 x 0.35 in). The EPC9157 demo board integrates the Renesas ISL81806 80 V dual synchronous buck controller with the latest-generation EPC2218 eGaN FETs from EPC to achieve greater than 95% efficiency for 48 V input to 12 V regulated output conversion at 25 A.  

In this episode, Alex Lidow and Marti McCurdy discusses EPC’s test-to-failure method in improving gallium nitride (GaN) devices. According to Alex, testing to failure has allowed EPC to tease out the exact stressors that cause failure and improve EPC’s GaN devices 10-100 times the reliability of commercial devices, and even 100 times reliability in space applications.

Alex and Marti discuss:

(1:30) Why test to fail
(4:14) Learning from failure data and stressors
(11:38) Safe Operating Area
(14:30) Mechanical stressors
(17:45) EPC Space

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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

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. The goal of qualification testing is to have zero failures out of a large group of parts tested. By testing parts to the point of failure, an understanding of the amount of margin between the data sheet limits can be developed, but more importantly, an understanding of the intrinsic failure mechanisms of the semiconductor can be found.

IEEE Power Electronics Magazine
December, 2020
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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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EPC introduces the 40 V, 3 milliohm EPC2055 eGaN^® FET, offering designers a device that is smaller, more efficient, and more reliable than currently available devices for high performance, space-constrained applications.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — December 2020 — Efficient Power Conversion Corporation, the world’s leader in enhancement-mode gallium nitride on silicon (eGaN) power FETs and ICs, advances the performance capability of low voltage, off-the-shelf gallium nitride transistors with the introduction of the EPC2055 (3 mΩ, 40 V) eGaN FET. 

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — December 2020 — BrightLoop Converters has greatly reduced the size, cost and improved reliability of its latest BB SP DC-DC buck converters thanks to Efficient Power Conversion Corporation’s (EPC) EPC2029 enhancement-mode gallium nitride (eGaN^®) FET transistors. By switching from silicon (Si) transistors to gallium nitride (GaN), BrightLoop was able to increase the switching frequency of their design from 200 kHz to 600 kHz, while keeping the same efficiency. This design change increased the power density of the solution by a factor of approximately two and this resulted in lower cost by enabling the implementation of a smaller enclosure.

EPC’s EPC2029 is an 80 V, 48 A eGaN^® FET featuring a 1 mm ball pitch. The wider pitch allows for placement of additional and larger vias under the device to enable high current carrying capability despite the extremely small 2.6 mm x 4.6 mm footprint.

面向高功率密度和低成本的DC/DC轉換，EPC9151功率模組利用EPC2152 ePower™功率級實現性能更高和尺寸更小的解決方案。

宜普電源轉換公司（EPC）宣佈推出EPC9151，这是一款300 W、雙向、超小尺寸的1/16磚型DC/DC降壓轉換器模組，其尺寸僅為33 mm x 22.9 mm (1.3”x 0.9”)。EPC9151採用Microchip公司的數位信號控制器（dsPIC33CK）和EPC公司的 ePower™ 功率級集成电路（EPC2152），於300 W、48 V/12 V的轉換器中，可以實現95％以上的效率，而且可以在這個可擴展的兩相設計中增加相數，使得功率可以更高。

Gallium nitride power device technology enables a new generation of power converters in space operating at higher frequencies, higher efficiencies, and greater power densities than everachievable before. GaN power devices can also exhibit superior radiation tolerance compared with Silicon MOSFETs depending upon their device design.

Power Electronics Europe
December, 2020
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寬能隙（WBG）半導體例如碳化矽（SiC）和氮化鎵（GaN）是功率轉換的前沿科技。它們為設計工程師帶來具有全新的頻譜、功率密度和外型尺寸的元件。

EDN Editorial Advisory Board
2020年12月
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宜普電源轉換公司（EPC）推出170 V、6.8毫歐的EPC2059氮化鎵場效應電晶體(eGaN^® FET），相比目前用於高性能48 V同步整流的元件，EPC為設計工程師提供更小型化、更高效、更可靠且成本更低的元件。

宜普電源轉換公司是增強型矽基氮化鎵（eGaN）功率場效應電晶體和積體電路的全球領先供應商，旨在提高產品性能而同時降低可發貨的氮化鎵電晶體的成本，推出EPC2059(6.8 mΩ、170 V)氮化鎵場效應電晶體，是100 V ~ 200 V解決方案系列的最新產品，該系列適用於廣闊的功率級並備有不同價格的元件可供選擇，滿足市場對48 V ~ 56 V伺服器和數據中心產品，以及一系列用於高端運算的消費類電源應用（包括遊戲PC，LCD / LED電視和LED照明）不斷增長的需求。

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.

氮化鎵（GaN）技術已實現重大改進，而且它極具成本效益，可以替代MOSFET元件。 從2017年開始，採用氮化鎵元件的48 V DC/D轉換器開始成為市場上重要的應用。 各種拓撲諸如多相和多級降壓轉換器，實現具備更高效率的全新解決方案，可以滿足IT和汽車市場的能源需求。

Power Electronics News
2020年11月
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Gallium nitride FETs have continued to gain traction in many power electronic applications, but GaN technology is still in the early part of its life cycle. While there is much room to improve basic FET performance figures of merit an even more promising avenue is the development of GaN power ICs.

Bodo’s Power Systems
November, 2020
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The ultimate aim of Artificial Intelligence is to provide machines the ability to operate autonomously. One such area which is projected to grow exponentially over the next decade is Autonomous Vehicles. With Artificial Intelligence coupled with the rapid advances in electronics and computer technology, the word driverless will soon take over the roads.

AI Time Journal
October, 2020
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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

基於宜普電源轉換公司（EPC）超高效eGaN^® FET的兩種高功率密度DC/DC轉換器，推動超薄筆記型電腦、顯示器、高端遊戲系統和其他纖薄型消費電子產品實現高效解決方案

宜普電源轉換公司（EPC）宣佈推出用於48 V DC/DC轉換的EPC9148和EPC9153演示板。 EPC9153是一款250 W超薄電源模組，採用簡單且低成本的同步降壓配置，峰值效率高達98.2％，其元件的最大厚度為6.5 毫米。 EPC9148使用多電平拓撲結構，元件的最大厚度小於4 毫米，峰值效率為98％。