News: Microelectronics
9 June 2021
EPC launches family of rad-hard eGaN FETs and ICs
Efficient Power Conversion Corp (EPC) of El Segundo, CA, USA has launched a new family of radiation-hardened enhancement-mode gallium nitride on silicon (eGaN) power field-effect transistors (FETs) and integrated circuits.
With higher breakdown strength, faster switching speed, higher thermal conductivity and lower on-resistance, power devices based on GaN significantly outperform silicon-based devices, notes EPC. The lower resistance and gate charge enable faster power supply switching frequencies, resulting in higher power densities, higher efficiencies, and more compact and lighter-weight circuitry for critical spaceborne missions. GaN is also inherently radiation tolerant, making GaN-based devices a reliable, higher-performing power transistor option for space applications.
Applications benefiting from the performance and fast deployment of these products include power supplies for satellites and mission equipment, light detection & ranging (LiDAR) for robotics and autonomous navigation and rendezvous docking, motor drives for robotics and instrumentation, and ion thrusters for satellite orientation and positioning, as well as interplanetary propulsion of low-mass robotic vehicles.
The EPC7014, a 60V, 340mΩ, 4APulsed, rad-hard eGaN FET in a tiny 0.81mm2 footprint, is the first in what will be a wide-range family of rad-hard transistors and ICs. The EPC7014 has a total dose rating greater than 1Mrad and SEE immunity for LET of 85MeV/(mg/cm2). These devices are offered in a chip-scale package, the same as the commercial eGaN FET and IC family. Packaged versions will be available from EPC Space LLC of Haverhill, MA, USA, a joint venture formed in June 2020 between EPC and VPT Inc of Blacksburg, VA, USA (part of HEICO Electronic Technologies Group).
“EPC’s GaN technology enables a new generation of power conversion and motor drives in space operating at higher frequencies, higher efficiencies and greater power densities than ever achievable before,” says EPC’s CEO & co-founder Alex Lidow. “We are excited about this technologies ability to provide mission-critical components to the space and high-reliability markets.”
The EPC7014 is available for engineering sampling and will be fully qualified for volume shipments in October.
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