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, has introduced an eGaN FET designed with a wider-pitch connection layout. The first in a new family of 'Relaxed Pitch' devices, the EPC2029 80V, 31A eGaN FET features a 1mm ball pitch. The wider pitch allows for placement of additional and larger vias under the device to enable high-current-carrying capability despite the extremely small 2.6mm x 4.6mm footprint.
Compared to a silicon power MOSFET with similar on-resistance, the EPC2029 is much smaller and has many times superior switching performance, it is claimed. The device is suitable for applications such as high-frequency DC-DC converters, synchronous rectification in DC/DC and AC/DC converters, motor drives, and class-D audio.
To simplify the evaluation process of this latest eGaN FET, the EPC9046 development board is available to support easy 'in circuit' performance evaluation. The board is a half-bridge topology with onboard gate drives, featuring the EPC2029. The board is 2" x 2" and contain two eGaN FETs using the Texas Instruments LM5113 gate driver, supply and bypass capacitors. It contains all critical components and is laid out for optimal switching performance with additional area to add buck output filter components. There are also various probe points to facilitate simple waveform measurement and efficiency calculation.
The EPC2029 power transistor is priced at $6.03 each (in 1000-unit quantities) and the EPC9046 development board is $137.75. Both are available from distributor Digi-Key Corp.
