EPC’s ePower™ stage, EPC2152 Integrated Circuit (IC), has been honored with an Elektra Award 2020 in the Semiconductor Product of the Year – Analogue category. The award presentation was announced on March 25th during a virtual awards ceremony hosted by Electronics Weekly.
These prestigious annual awards have been running for over 19 years to reward and recognize companies and individuals for their excellent performance, innovation, and contribution to the global electronics industry. Judging is carried out by an independent and unbiased, diverse, and knowledgeable panel of industry experts.
The EPC2152 is a single-chip driver plus eGaN® FET half-bridge power stage using EPC’s proprietary GaN IC technology. Input logic interface, level shifting, bootstrap charging, and gate drive buffer circuits along with eGaN output FETs configured as a half-bridge are integrated within a monolithic chip. This results in a chip-scale LGA form factor device that measures only 3.9 mm x 2.6 mm x 0.63 mm.
When operated in a 48 V to 12 V buck converter at 1 MHz switching frequency, the EPC2152 ePower Stage achieves a peak efficiency above 96% with a solution that is 33% smaller in size on the printed circuit board (PCB) compared to an equivalent multi-chip discrete implementation.
The EPC2152 makes it easy for designers of high-power density applications, such as DC-DC converters, motor drives, and Class-D audio systems, to take advantage of the significant performance improvements made possible with GaN technology. Integrated devices in a single chip are easier to design, easier to layout, easier to assemble, save space on the PCB, and increase efficiency.
“We are very proud that the panel of judges for the Elektra Awards has recognized our ePower stage, EPC2152 IC and its ability to offer higher performance and smaller solution size,” said Alex Lidow, CEO and co-founder of Efficient Power Conversion. “This integrated power stage is the next significant step in the evolution of GaN power conversion, from integrating discrete devices to more complex solutions that offer in-circuit performance beyond the capabilities of silicon solutions and enhance the ease of design for power systems engineers.”
