EPC Space introduces a new 60 V radiation-hardened (rad-hard) gallium nitride (GaN) transistor for power conversion solutions in critical spaceborne and other high reliability environments.
HAVERHILL, MA.— July 2021 — EPC Space announces the introduction of EPC7014UB, a 60 V radiation-hardened gallium nitride transistor that is lower in cost and is a more efficient solution than the nearest comparable radiation hardened (RH) silicon MOSFET. Utilizing GaN technology, the EPC7014UB outperforms RH silicon-based devices as it offers higher breakdown strength, faster switching speed, and lower on-resistance, than other RH power devices.
Lower resistance and gate charge enable faster power supply switching frequencies resulting in higher power densities, higher efficiencies, and more compact and lighter weight circuitry for critical spaceborne missions.
Applications benefiting from the performance of these products include power supplies for satellites and space mission equipment, light detection and ranging (lidar) for robotics and autonomous navigation and rendezvous docking, motor drives for robotics, instrumentation and reaction wheels, and ion thrusters for satellite orientation and positioning, as well as interplanetary propulsion of low-mass robotic vehicles. Additionally, the EPC7014UB can be used as a gate driver interface between CMOS or TTL control circuits and power devices in a radiation hardened environment.
The EPC7014UB, is a 60 V, 580 mΩ, 4 APulsed, rad-hard eGaN FET in an industry standard UB package. The EPC7014UB has a total dose rating greater than 1 Mrad and SEE immunity for LET of 85 MeV/(mg/cm2). These devices are also offered in a chip-scale package from EPC.
“GaN technology enables a new generation of power conversion and motor drives in space operating at higher frequencies, higher efficiencies, lower cost, and greater power densities than achievable with rad hard silicon” said Bel Lazar, CEO of EPC Space. “We are excited about this technology’s ability to provide mission-critical components for the space and other high-reliability markets”.
Price & Availability
500 units space level grade pricing starts at $160/each. Contact factory for availability and delivery.
About EPC Space
EPC Space provides revolutionary high-reliability radiation hardened enhancement-mode gallium nitride power management solutions for space and other harsh environments.
Radiation hardened GaN-based power devices address critical spaceborne environments for applications including power supplies, light detection and ranging (lidar), motor drive, and ion thrusters.
eGaN is a registered trademark of Efficient Power Conversion Corporation, Inc.
Press Contact
Efficient Space: Renee Yawger, +1 908 619 9678 email: [email protected]
Exploring the Frontiers of GaN Power Devices
NewsGallium nitride (GaN) power semiconductors allow for innovation in the harsh radiation environments of space applications.
Electronics Weekly
September, 2021
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Discovering GaN for Power Design in Space — An Interview with Alex Lidow
NewsUnlike silicon, whereby specific manufacturing processes and packaging are required to insulate semiconductors from the effects of radiation, GaN devices are largely resistant to the damage caused by space radiation due to their physical characteristics and structure. In an interview with Alex Lidow, CEO at EPC, Power Electronic News have discovered the features of GaN for space applications.
Power Electronics News
September 2021
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Rad Hard Gallium Nitride (GaN) Power Devices from EPC Space Offer Improved Performance, Shorter Lead-times, and Lower Prices vs. Silicon Rad Hard MOSFETs
NewsEPC Space’s Rad Hard GaN power devices have higher performance, lower mass, smaller footprint, and much lower cost than traditional silicon Rad Hard MOSFETs.
HAVERHILL, MA.— August 2021 — For the past five years EPC Space has been delivering and continues to deliver Rad Hard GaN discrete and module power products which offer higher performance and lower cost power management solutions for high reliability and space applications when compared to traditional silicon-based Rad Hard transistors and ICs.
EPC Space technology produces devices that are smaller, have lower resistance, and have many times superior switching performance compared to silicon solutions. Spanning a range of 40 Volts to 300 Volts, and 4 Amperes to 30 Amperes, the discrete power transistor family demonstrates significant performance advantages over competitive silicon-based Rad Hard power MOSFETs. The Drivers and Power Stages product line includes ultra-fast low-side eGaN drivers, ultra-fast dual low-side eGaN drivers, and half bridge drivers with integrated eGaN power switches.
Beyond the overall higher performance, these devices offer superior radiation hardness under heavy ions (SEE), gamma radiation (TID), and Neutron Displacement Damage (DD) as compared to Si solution; moreover, SEE immunity is guaranteed by wafer. EPC Space devices are manufactured in the US at an AS9100D certified facility located in the greater Boston area. It is worth noting, that tens of thousands of these devices are already on board of satellites flying in LEO and GEO orbits with mission lives of more than ten years.
Space Level Pricing Table:
Compare these prices to your current solution before your next design!
Pricing at 500 Piece Quantities
“With the performance, reliability, and price advantage clearly on the side of EPC Space GaN devices, it is hard to justify continuing to pay two times the price for lower performing, heavier, larger silicon-based power solutions” commented Bel Lazar, CEO. “With GaN solutions for applications from LEO to GEO at half the price of Rad Hard silicon MOSFETs, the time to switch to GaN is now.”Critical spaceborne applications that benefit from GaN performance and price include, but not limited to, power supplies for satellites and mission equipment, light detection and ranging (lidar) for robotics, autonomous navigation and rendezvous docking, motor drives for reaction wheels, robotics and instrumentation, and ion thrusters for satellite orientation and positioning as well as interplanetary propulsion of low-mass robotic vehicles.
About EPC Space
EPC Space provides revolutionary high-reliability radiation hardened enhancement-mode gallium nitride power management solutions for space and other harsh environments.
Radiation hardened GaN-based power devices address critical spaceborne environments for applications including power supplies, light detection and ranging (lidar), motor drive, and ion thrusters.
eGaN is a registered trademark of Efficient Power Conversion Corporation, Inc.
Press Contact
Efficient Space: Renee Yawger tel: +1.908.619.9678 email: [email protected]
Rad Hard Gallium Nitride (GaN) Power Devices from EPC Space Selected by Astranis for Geostationary Satellites
NewsEPC Space is providing Rad Hard GaN power devices to Astranis for use in the latest build of new small geostationary communications satellites.
HAVERHILL, MA.— August 2021 — EPC Space announces that it has been selected by Astranis to provide Rad Hard gallium nitride-based power devices for use in DC power supplies on the latest satellite build. Astranis announced earlier that it has started to build four new small geostationary communications satellites, three of which are already spoken for signed deals with new, yet-to-be-announced customers.
This new build of Astranis satellites is expected to offer 15% greater lifetime and 20% greater throughput the first-generation model, without increasing satellite hardware costs.
Astranis is building small, low-cost telecommunications satellites to connect the four billion people who currently do not have access to the internet. Each spacecraft operates from geostationary orbit (GEO) with a next-generation design of only 400 kg. By owning and operating its satellites and offering them to customers as a turnkey solution, Astranis can provide bandwidth-as-a-service and unlock previously unreachable markets.
The Rad Hard GaN power devices that EPC Space is providing to Astranis provide high precision, small size, low weight, and can withstand the harsh environment of space.
“We are honored that Astranis has selected EPC Space as a trusted vendor to provide Rad Hard GaN for their geostationary satellites” commented Bel Lazar, CEO. “This program will add to the tens of thousands of our units already on board of satellites flying in LEO and GEO orbit with mission lives of more than 10 years.”
About EPC Space
EPC Space provides revolutionary high-reliability radiation hardened enhancement-mode gallium nitride power management solutions for space and other harsh environments.
Radiation hardened GaN-based power devices address critical spaceborne environments for applications including power supplies, light detection and ranging (lidar), motor drive, and ion thrusters.
eGaN is a registered trademark of Efficient Power Conversion Corporation, Inc.
Press Contact
Efficient Space: Renee Yawger tel: +1.908.619.9678 email: [email protected]
EPC Space Announces Cost Effective New 60 V Rad Hard Gallium Nitride (GaN) Power Device for Demanding Space Applications
NewsEPC Space introduces a new 60 V radiation-hardened (rad-hard) gallium nitride (GaN) transistor for power conversion solutions in critical spaceborne and other high reliability environments.
HAVERHILL, MA.— July 2021 — EPC Space announces the introduction of EPC7014UB, a 60 V radiation-hardened gallium nitride transistor that is lower in cost and is a more efficient solution than the nearest comparable radiation hardened (RH) silicon MOSFET. Utilizing GaN technology, the EPC7014UB outperforms RH silicon-based devices as it offers higher breakdown strength, faster switching speed, and lower on-resistance, than other RH power devices.
Lower resistance and gate charge enable faster power supply switching frequencies resulting in higher power densities, higher efficiencies, and more compact and lighter weight circuitry for critical spaceborne missions.
Applications benefiting from the performance of these products include power supplies for satellites and space mission equipment, light detection and ranging (lidar) for robotics and autonomous navigation and rendezvous docking, motor drives for robotics, instrumentation and reaction wheels, and ion thrusters for satellite orientation and positioning, as well as interplanetary propulsion of low-mass robotic vehicles. Additionally, the EPC7014UB can be used as a gate driver interface between CMOS or TTL control circuits and power devices in a radiation hardened environment.
The EPC7014UB, is a 60 V, 580 mΩ, 4 APulsed, rad-hard eGaN FET in an industry standard UB package. The EPC7014UB has a total dose rating greater than 1 Mrad and SEE immunity for LET of 85 MeV/(mg/cm2). These devices are also offered in a chip-scale package from EPC.
“GaN technology enables a new generation of power conversion and motor drives in space operating at higher frequencies, higher efficiencies, lower cost, and greater power densities than achievable with rad hard silicon” said Bel Lazar, CEO of EPC Space. “We are excited about this technology’s ability to provide mission-critical components for the space and other high-reliability markets”.
Price & Availability
500 units space level grade pricing starts at $160/each. Contact factory for availability and delivery.
About EPC Space
EPC Space provides revolutionary high-reliability radiation hardened enhancement-mode gallium nitride power management solutions for space and other harsh environments.
Radiation hardened GaN-based power devices address critical spaceborne environments for applications including power supplies, light detection and ranging (lidar), motor drive, and ion thrusters.
eGaN is a registered trademark of Efficient Power Conversion Corporation, Inc.
Press Contact
Efficient Space: Renee Yawger, +1 908 619 9678 email: [email protected]
Spirit Electronics Podcast: What Can GaN Do in Space? Rad Hard Products and Applications
NewsSpirit Electronics Podcast: What Can GaN Do in Space? Rad Hard Products and Applications
In this episode, EPC Space CEO Bel Lazar talks with Marti about the company’s product lines and applications, as well as the ability of GaN devices to withstand radiation and harsh environmental conditions in space.
Listen to podcast
Why GaN for DC-DC Space Designs
EPC Space BlogPower electronics engineers are constantly working towards designs with higher efficiency and higher power density while maintaining high reliability and minimizing cost. Advances in design techniques and improved component technologies enable engineers to consistently achieve these goals. Power semiconductors are at the heart of these designs and their improvements are vital to better performance. In this EPC space blog, we will demonstrate how GaN power semiconductors allow for innovation in the harsh radiation environments of space applications.
GaN power semiconductors offer designers in the high reliability market a sudden and significant improvement in electrical performance over their silicon power MOSFET predecessors. Table 1 compares radiation hardened GaN and Si power semiconductor device characteristics important for circuit designers to increase efficiency and power density in their converter.
Read moreVersatility in Space
EPC Space BlogWe do not like to boast here at EPC Space, but we do think our discrete and modular product
offerings are both the widest and the most versatile available in the RadHard space/power arena. A good brag is just empty words without the proof to stand behind them. So, in order to offer up some proof of the versatility of our lineup, we have put together an application note as a demonstration. Application Note AN002 shows how an actively-clamped forward converter (ACFC) can be designed and configured using four products from the EPC Space discrete and modular product offering. The resulting circuit demonstrates how a high-performance, low parts count and small physical size solution can be achieved.
The EPC Space products, because of their application-friendly configurations, packaging and high level of integration allow designers to think beyond the component level; to use these devices as true building blocks to create higher-level systems for applications in space. Now that is true versatility!
Please download a copy of AN002 and see for yourself. Even if you do not have an immediate application for the ACFC solution, hopefully this design approach will open your eyes to the many possibilities that these Rad Hard GaN products can offer to you in other converter topologies and circuits.
What is up with the SS (Source Sense) Pin?
EPC Space BlogA quick look at any discrete eGaN® high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) in the FBG or CDA product families shows that each package contains a SS (Source Sense) pin. This post is an explanation as to why that vitally important pin is necessary and provided to help extract the maximum switching and efficiency performance from the EPC Space HEMTs. As an example, the position of the SS pin on the FSMD-B and CDA1 packages is shown in Figure 1.
Read moreGaN in Space Applications
NewsGallium nitride power device technology enables a new generation of power converters in space operating at higher frequencies, higher efficiencies, and greater power densities than ever achievable before. GaN power devices can also exhibit superior radiation tolerance compared with Silicon MOSFETs depending upon their device design.
Power Electronics Europe
December, 2020
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