New Industry Products

GaN FET Optimized for Pulsed Applications such as LIDAR

February 04, 2016 by Jeff Shepard

Efficient Power Conversion Corporation (EPC) announces the EPC2040 power transistor, an extremely small, fast switching GaN power transistor that enables superior resolution, faster response time, and greater accuracy for high speed end-use applications. The EPC2040 features a VDS of 15V, RDS(on) of 28mΩ, an ID of 3.4A and a Pulsed ID of 28A. The die size is 0.85 mm x 1.2 mm. The EPC2040 eGaN® FET offers extremely fast and consistent switching, enabling greater resolution and accuracy in applications dependent upon pulsed laser drivers, which include LiDAR systems used for guidance in 3D sensing in augmented reality systems and autonomous vehicles.

High stability of the threshold over temperature ensures the high stability as the laser heats up. This product is well-suited for pulsed laser drivers used in LiDAR technology, the technology at the heart of autonomous vehicle guidance systems and augmented reality platforms. The end result of the EPC2040's superior performance is increased accuracy and higher resolution in these systems.

The low temperature coefficient of the gate threshold of the EPC2040 eGaN FET contributes to enhanced end-use system performance. This feature gives consistent results, thus enabling lower laser diode power and high quality system operation over its entire operating temperature range.

Benefits of using eGaN FETs in augmented reality systems include lower laser diode heat resulting from narrower pulse widths, high efficiency due to lower laser diode driver heat, more compact systems because of the small eGaN FET footprint, and consistent operation because of the EPC2040 is stable with temperature.

Steve Colino, Vice President Strategic Technical Sales, points out that, “The EPC2040 was designed specifically for applications requiring high frequency, narrow pulse width capabilities. These are the requirements that are critical to improving resolution in LiDAR, the technology at the heart of collision avoidance and guidance systems in autonomous vehicles.”

Pricing for the EPC2040 power transistors at 1K units is $0.65 each