Off-The-Shelf GaN Transistors Raise The Power-Conversion Bar

Six new gallium-nitride (GaN) power transistors developed by Efficient Power Conversion Corp. (EPC) significantly reduce on-resistance (R_DS(ON)), thus increasing output-current capability in applications such as dc-dc converters, point-of-load (POL) converters, motor drives, and LED lighting, among others. Ranging from 30 to 200 V, the eGaN field-effect transistors (FETs) cut hard-switching figure of merit (FOM) in half compared to previous-generation FETs to improve switching performance in high-frequency power-conversion applications. New family members include the 30-V EPC2023, 40-V EPC2024, 60-V EPC2020, 80-V EPC2021, 100-V EPC2022, and 200-V EPC2019. The company built two buck converters using the eGaN FETs: the EPC9018 12-V to 1.2-V POL converter, which employs the EPC2023 as the synchronous rectifier to help boost efficiencies above 91.5%; and the EPC9019 48-V to 12-V converter, which uses the EPC2021, also as a synchronous rectifier, to help push efficiencies above 98%. Development boards are available for each eGaN FET to facilitate “in-circuit” performance evaluation.

EFFICIENT POWER CONVERSION CORP. (EPC)