Efficient Power Conversion Corporation (EPC) today announced the availability of the EPC9004 development board, featuring EPC's enhancement-mode gallium nitride (eGaN) field effect transistors (FETs). This board demonstrates how recently introduced IC gate drivers, optimized for GaN FETs, make the task of transitioning from silicon power transistors to higher performance eGaN FETs simple and cost effective. The development board is a 200 V peak voltage, 2 A maximum output current, half bridge featuring the EPC2012 eGaN FET. The EPC2012 is used in combination with the UCC27611 high-speed gate driver from Texas Instruments, thus reducing time and complexity for designing high frequency, high performance power systems. The kit simplifies the evaluation process of high performance eGaN FETs by including all the critical components, including a dedicated gate driver, on a single 2" x 1.5" board that can be easily connected into any existing converter. In addition, there are various probe points on the board to facilitate simple waveform measurement and efficiency calculation. A Quick Start Guide is included for reference and ease of use. The 200 V EPC2012 eGaN FET is ideal for use in applications such as wireless charging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and low RF frequency applications such as smart meter communications. The EPC9004 development board is priced at $95.00.
