EPC expands DrGaNPLUS Plug-and-Play evaluation board family

     EPC engineers have expanded their easy-to-use DrGaNPLUS evaluation board family, making it easy for engineers to evaluate power systems they have designed using superior gallium nitride field-effect transistors (eGaN FETs) for rapid mass production. These evaluation boards are proof-of-concept designs that integrate all components required for half-bridge circuits in a single, ultra-small, PCB-based module that can be surface-mounted directly on the PCB at any time, demonstrating superior power conversion solutions using gallium nitride transistors.

     An example of improved performance can be found in the EPC9203 evaluation board - an 80 V, 20 A half-bridge power converter "plug and play" evaluation board. It is easy for engineers to quickly evaluate high-performance power systems using gallium nitride field-effect = transistors (eGaN FETs). The board (Vin at 48 V and Vout at 12 V) achieves a maximum total system efficiency of more than 97.5%, including power levels, inductors, drivers, capacitors and PCB board power consumption.

     Both boards operate on the same principle and can be driven by single - or dual-channel PWM inputs, including the eGaN FET, Texas Instruments LM5113 driver, and high-frequency input capacitors. The DrGaNPLUS evaluation board is small (only 11 mm x 12 mm) and can be surface-mounted directly on the PCB board. In addition, the board uses an optimal layout to minimize the impact of CSI and loop inductance during high-frequency power conversion.

     Alex Lidow, EPC co-founder and CEO, said: "In addition to the need for new technology to have higher performance, lower cost and reliability, an important factor in its wide adoption is that it must be simple to use. The DrGaNPLUS evaluation board provides power conversion system design engineers with a quick and easy to use tool to evaluate the superior performance of their power system circuits and the gallium nitride field-effect transistors (eGaN FETs) they use."