Monolithic GaN Half-Bridge Enables over 97% Efficient 48V to 12V Buck

Efficient Power Conversion Corp. (EPC) announces the EPC2102, 60 V and the EPC2103, 80 V enhancement-mode monolithic GaN transistor half bridges. By integrating two eGaN® power FETs into a single device, interconnect inductances and the interstitial space needed on the PCB are eliminated, resulting in a 50% reduction in board area occupied by the transistors. This increases both efficiency (especially at higher frequencies) and power density, while reducing assembly costs to the end user’s power conversion system. The half bridges are ideal for high frequency dc-dc conversion.

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Using an EPC2103 in a typical buck converter, system efficiency is greater than 97% at 20 A, when switching at 500 kHz and converting from 48 V to 12 V. A second device, the EPC2102 60 V half bridge is also being added to the portfolio. This device achieves 98% system efficiency at 18 A, when switching at 500 kHz and converting from 42 V to 14 V. Both products come in a chip-scale package for improved switching speed and thermal performance and are only 6.05 mm x 2.3 mm for increased power density.

The EPC9038 and EPC9039 development boards are 2” x 2” (50.8 mm x 50.8 mm) and each contains one EPC2102 or EPC2103 integrated half-bridge component, respectively. Both boards use the Texas Instruments LM5113 gate driver and have onboard supply and bypass capacitors. The boards have been laid out for optimal switching performance and include various probe points to facilitate simple waveform measurement and efficiency calculation. The EPC2102 monolithic half-bridges are $6.85 each for 1K units. The EPC2103 monolithic half-bridges are $7.58 each for 1K units. The EPC9038 and EPC9039 development boards are $137.75 each.
 
source: http://www.powerpulse.net/story.php?storyID=31457

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