News: Microelectronics
29 September 2020
EPC Space launches 40-300V rad-hard eGaN power transistors
EPC Space LLC of Haverhill, MA, USA has launched a family of rad-hard enhancement-mode power transistors spanning a range of 40-300V and 4-30A, and demonstrating what are said to be significant performance advantages over competing silicon-based rad-hard power MOSFETs.
EPC Space was established in June as a joint venture between Efficient Power Conversion Corp 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). The JV is focused on designing and manufacturing high-reliability, radiation-hardened enhancement-mode GaN-based power conversion devices for space and other harsh environments.
“We are able to offer designers a superior technology with significant space heritage, as thousands of our rad-hard GaN devices have been in orbit since January of 2019,” says CEO Bel Lazar.
EPC Space says that its technology produces devices that are smaller, have lower resistance, and have many times superior switching performance compared with silicon solutions.
Critical spaceborne applications that benefit from this newly available performance include power supplies for satellites and mission equipment, light detection & ranging (LiDAR) for robotics and autonomous navigation and rendezvous docking, motor drives for robotics and instrumentation, and ion thrusters for satellite orientation and positioning as well as interplanetary propulsion of low-mass robotic vehicles.
Beyond the performance improvement, the devices are said to offer superior radiation hardness under heavy ions (SEE) and gamma radiation (TID). SEE immunity is guaranteed at the wafer level and EPC Space devices are manufactured in an AS9100D-certified facility in the greater Boston area.
EPC Space appoints Spirit as distribution partner for defense & aerospace market
