25 May 2016

Intersil extending radiation-tolerant portfolio to GaN power conversion ICs for satellite applications

Intersil Corp of Milpitas, CA, USA, a provider of power management and precision analog solutions, says that it plans to extend its radiation-tolerant portfolio to include gallium nitride (GaN) power conversion ICs for satellites and other harsh-environment applications. 

Intersil intends to couple its radiation-hardened field-effect transistor (FET) drivers with GaN FETs to deliver performance that leapfrogs existing products that rely on traditional high-reliability FET technologies. GaN provides better conductivity and switching characteristics that enable several system benefits, including a reduction in system power losses.

"Intersil has decades of experience developing state-of-the-art radiation-tolerant devices and a long heritage supplying space flight applications," says Philip Chesley, senior VP of Precision Products at Intersil. "When combined with the demonstrated ability of GaN devices to operate reliably under harsh environmental conditions, we will provide customers with a far superior alternative to existing FET technology," he reckons. 

Intersil is collaborating with Efficient Power Conversion Corp (EPC) of El Segundo, CA, USA - the first firm to introduce enhancement-mode gallium-nitride-on-silicon (eGaN) FETs as a replacement for power MOSFET, and a provider of E-mode GaN power transistors. Intersil's new products based on the eGaN technology will be sampling this summer.

Tags: EPC E-mode GaN FETs GaN-on-Si

Visit: www.intersil.com

Visit: www.epc-co.com