EPC shrinks footprint to serve up low RDS on rad-hard 200V transistor
Suitable for demanding space applications, the EPC7007 is the latest member of Efficient Power Conversion (EPC)’s radiation-hardened (rad-hard) GaN devices.
“The EPC7007 extends the voltage range of our rad hard family to 200V and provides designers with a solution that is significantly smaller and lower cost than silicon,” said Alex Lidow, CEO, and co-founder of EPC.
The low on-resistance rad-hard 200V FET is rated at 25mOhm, 80A pulsed and is supplied in a small 5.76mm2 footprint. It has a total dose rating greater than 1Mrad and SEE (single event effect) immunity for LET of 85 MeV (mg/cm2).
Compared to rad-hard silicon devices with similar RDS on, the EPC7007 offers 40 times smaller QG and QGD, zero reverse recovery (QRR) at a size that is 40 times smaller, claimed EPC. GaN based power devices deliver higher breakdown strength, lower gate charge, lower switching losses, better thermal conductivity and very low on-resistance than silicon-based devices, said EPC. They also enable higher switching frequencies resulting in higher power densities, higher efficiencies, and more compact and lighter weight circuitry for critical spaceborne missions, continued the company. GaN devices also support higher total radiation levels and SEE LET levels than silicon solutions, it added.
Target applications for the EPC7007 include DC/DC power, motor drives, lidar, deep probes and ion thrusters for space applications, satellites and avionics.
“The EPC7007 offers designers a solution with a figure of merit that is 50 times better than best-in-class silicon rad hard devices,” said Lidow.
The devices are offered in the same chip scale package as the commercial eGaN FET and IC family but will be available from EPC Space.
The EPC7007 is available for engineering sampling and will be fully qualified for volume shipments in December 2022.
EPC manufactures enhancement mode gallium nitride (eGaN) based power management. The company claims its eGaN FETs and ICs provide performance many times greater than the best silicon power MOSFETs in applications such as DC/DC converters, remote sensing technology (lidar), motor drives for eMobility, robotics, and drones and low-cost satellites.
