News: Microelectronics
16 June 2020
EPC and VPT form joint venture targeting rad-hard power electronics
Efficient Power Conversion Corp (EPC) of El Segundo, CA, USA – which makes enhancement-mode gallium nitride on silicon (eGaN) power field-effect transistors (FETs) for power management applications – and VPT Inc of Blacksburg, VA, USA (part of the HEICO Corp subsidiary HEICO Electronic Technologies Group) – which provides DC-DC power converters, EMI filters and custom engineering services for avionics, military, space, and industrial applications – have established EPC Space LLC, a joint venture focused on designing and manufacturing radiation-hardened GaN-on-silicon transistors and ICs packaged, tested and qualified for satellite and high-reliability applications.
EPC Space will provide high-reliability power conversion solutions for critical spaceborne environments in applications including power supplies, light detection & ranging (LiDAR), motor drive, and ion thrusters. The GaN-based components offer superior performance advantages over traditional silicon-based solutions, EPC claims.
“VPT’s global leadership in power conversion solutions for avionics, military and space applications is the perfect complement to EPC’s leadership in GaN-based power conversion devices,” says EPC’s CEO & co-founder Dr Alex Lidow. “The joint venture – EPC Space – is taking the superior performance of gallium nitride to the high-reliability community, offering electrical and radiation performance beyond the capabilities of the aging rad-hard silicon MOSFET,” he adds.
“EPC’s GaN technology enables a new generation of power converters in space operating at higher frequencies, higher efficiencies and greater power densities than ever achievable before,” comments VPT’s founder & CEO Dan Sable.
