EPC Power Conversion Corporation (EPC) Expands eToF Laser Driver IC Family

     EPC Power Conversion Corporation (EPC) has announced an expansion of its Gallium Nitride (GaN) integrated circuit product portfolio to enable higher performance, smaller size and time-of-flight (ToF) LiDAR applications including robotics, drones, 3D sensors sensors, video games, and self-driving cars.

     EPC Power Conversion Corporation (EPC) announces the EPC21603 laser driver, which integrates a 40 V, 10 A FET, gate driver and LVDS logic level input on a single chip for time-of-flight (ToF) lidar systems for use in Applications such as robotics, drones, augmented reality (AR), and video games.

     Controlled by LVDS logic circuits, the EPC21603 can modulate and achieve laser drive currents up to 10 A at ultra-high frequencies in excess of 100 MHz and ultra-short pulses below 2 ns. The EPC21603 integrates a single-chip driver and gallium nitride field effect transistor (eGaN® FET) based on EPC's proprietary gallium nitride IC technology in a chip-scale BGA package with a footprint of only 1.5 mm x 1.0 mm. LVDS logic control allows eToF laser driver ICs to be controlled via FPGAs for applications that require noise immunity, such as augmented reality.

     By integrating multiple devices in a single chip, design, layout, and assembly are made easier, saving space on the PCB, increasing efficiency, and reducing costs. This series of products will enable ToF solutions to be applied faster and more widely in a wider range of end-user application scenarios.

     "The EPC21603, along with the recently announced EPC21601, is our new family of GaN ICs that significantly improve performance while reducing the size and cost of time-of-flight lidar systems," said Alex Lidow, CEO and co-founder of EPC. The new family of GaN integrated circuits will continue to expand to higher currents, higher voltages, and further integration of other control and logic functions on a single chip."