News: Microelectronics
19 January 2022
EPC makes available GaN Power Bench suite of design tools
Efficient Power Conversion Corp (EPC) of El Segundo, CA, USA – which makes enhancement-mode gallium nitride on silicon (eGaN) power field-effect transistors (FETs) and integrated circuits for power management applications – says that the new GaN Power Bench is a suite of design tools to assist engineers in getting optimal performance from their GaN-based designs.
EPC says that eGaN FETs and ICs provide designers employing any power conversion topology the opportunity to achieve significant performance enhancements compared with silicon devices. User-friendly tools like those in the GaN Power Bench make it easy for designers to extract the optimal performance out of their GaN-based designs, the firm adds.
The GaN FET Selection Tool for Buck Converters Calculator is an enhanced product selection tool that uses estimation and calculation for a hard-switched buck converter. Designers can input specific design parameters to receive a selection of devices ranked by power dissipation to determine possible parameter trade-offs. The objective of this selection tool is to help find the best GaN FETs to fit specific power system design needs. Additional topologies will be added in the future.
The GaN FET Thermal Calculator provides quick estimates for the thermal performance parameters of PCB-mounted GaN devices subject to both board-side cooling through forced convection and backside cooling through a thermal solution consisting of a heat spreader and heatsink. This thermal calculator accounts for the PCB construction (size, stack-up, and via density), die sizes, power losses, TIM materials, and heat-sink solution.
The Cross Reference Search provides instant access to cross-referenced and replacements for many silicon-based power management devices with eGaN FETs. This tool allows for easy comparison of parametric differences without opening a single data-sheet to identify the optimal eGaN FET to increase design efficiency. A competitor’s part number can simply be entered to find a suggested GaN device replacement.
