Notable & Newsworthy

March 2022
Miniaturized Open-Frame Power Supply for Medical, Industrial Applications
Murata announced the expansion of its PQ line which is comprised of open frame AC/DC converters. The PQU1000 series was designed for industrial and medical applications requiring a high level of safety. The line meets IEC62368-1 and EN60601-1 third edition standards for industrial and healthcare app
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Date:
03/29/2022
Record Order From Maersk for Volvo Electric Trucks
Volvo Trucks in North America has won an order for 110 Volvo VNR Electric trucks from the global logistics company Maersk. The deal adds to a previous order of 16 vehicles of the same model and marks the single largest commercial order to date for Volvo’s electric trucks. The order was placed by Perfo
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Date:
03/29/2022
Speed Limit of Computers Detected

An international research group has found out how fast a computer can become maximum.

The maximum speed of signal transmission in microchips is about one petaherz (one million gigahertz), which is about 100,000 times faster than current transistors. Physicists from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and Vienna and Graz Un
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Date:
03/28/2022
Re-Jigged Cathode Recipe Gives new Hope to Solid-State Batteries for Electric Vehicles

Researchers designed solid-state composite electrodes based on the liquid-phase sintering technique.

Solid-state batteries for electric vehicles, offering greater energy density and range than contemporary lithium-ion batteries, remain out of reach, not least due to challenges coming from the composition of the battery’s cathode. A new cathode composition and accompanying manufacturing technique looks set to
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Date:
03/28/2022
Probing the Inner Workings of High-Fidelity Quantum Processors

A silicon quantum processor in which an electron spin qubit (blue) enables communication between two phosphorus nuclear spin qubits (red). Researchers used gate set tomography to show that the processor’s logic gates surpass 99 percent fidelity.

Tiny quantum computing processors built from silicon have finally surpassed 99 percent fidelity in certain logic operations ("gates”). Quantum computers store information in the quantum state of a physical system (in this case, two silicon qubits) then manipulate the quantum state to perform a calculation in
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Date:
03/28/2022
Can Bessel Beams be Realized in the Ultrabroad Terahertz Frequency Range?

Experimental setup and Bessel-terahertz wave detection results

Terahertz (THz) radiation from laser plasmas features with ultrabroad bandwidth, which is attractive for many applications. Significant efforts have been made to enhance its conversion efficiency, tune its frequency spectrum, and even manipulate its polarization. However, little attention has been paid to beam st
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Date:
03/28/2022

The newly developed qubits are based on so-called holes (red) whose spin (arrow) in one or the other direction stores the information. They are arranged in an architecture based on silicon transistors.

Quantum bits (qubits) are the smallest units of information in a quantum computer. Currently, one of the biggest challenges in developing this kind of powerful computer is scalability. A research group at the University of Basel, working with the IBM Research Laboratory in Rüschlikon, has made a breakthrough in
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Date:
03/28/2022
Nexperia officially launches new Dallas design centre
Nexperia officially launched its new design center in Dallas, Texas. Having recently celebrated its 5th anniversary as an independent company, this development marks another major step towards Nexperia’s stated goal of becoming a world leader in essential semiconductors by 2030.   The Dallas design center
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Date:
03/28/2022
DC/DC converter with integrated Supercap UPS buffering
The compact DC2412-UPSP2 with 16-32VDC wide-range input and 12V/5A output combines the functions of a powerful DC/DC converter and an uninterruptible DC power supply (UPS) in an innovative way. Fast-charging and absolutely maintenance-free Supercaps (3x 480F) with more than 500,000 charging and discharging cycles
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Date:
03/28/2022
New variants for popular BMR491 quarter-brick DC/DC range
Power ratings now available are 1400 W continuous / 2400 W peak (BMR4912307/856), and 1540 W continuous / 2450 W peak (BMR4913208/857).   The new variants all feature the Flex Power Modules’ ‘Hybrid Regulated Ratio (HRR)’ technique where output voltages vary in a ratio to the input voltage but not
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Date:
03/28/2022
Electrothermal models cover MOSFET operating temperature range
Semiconductor manufacturers commonly provide simulation models for their MOSFETs, but these usually only include a limited number of device parameters which have been modelled at typical operating temperatures. Nexperia’s new advanced models capture the thermal interdependency of the complete set of device pa
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Date:
03/28/2022
 50W GaN converter enables high-efficiency power designs
With its single-switch topology and high integration, including current-sensing and protection circuitry also built-in, the VIPerGaN50 comes in a compact and low-cost 5mm x 6mm package. The speed of the integrated GaN transistor allows a high switching frequency with a small and lightweight flyback transformer
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Date:
03/28/2022
 60V, 70dB PSRR LDOs Deliver Industry-Leading Quiescent Current
The DIODES AP7387 devices are used in applications such as cordless vacuum cleaners, smoke detectors, power tools, and various other household appliances.   The devices have an input voltage range spanning from 5V to 60V, which gives them the flexibility to be connected to 5V, 9V, 12V, 24V, and 48V rai
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Date:
03/28/2022
First Multi-Port Production-Ready Fast Charger Reference Design
Silanna Semiconductor has announced its first multi-port fast charger reference design. Bringing together the company’s CO2 Smart Power families of advanced ACF controllers and high-frequency DC/DC converters, the new AnyPort RD-5 delivers a high-power-density, ultra-efficient, production-ready solution for mu
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Date:
03/28/2022
ROHM starts production of 150V GaN HEMTs
The components will ideally be applied in power supply circuits for industrial equipment such as base stations and data centers along with IoT communication devices.   In recent years – due to the rising demand for server systems in response to the growing number of IoT devices – improving powe
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Date:
03/28/2022
High-Efficiency Quasi-Resonant PFC IC with 750 V GaN Switch
Power Integrations announced the HiperPFS™-5 family of power-factor-correction (PFC) ICs with an integrated 750 V PowiGaN gallium-nitride switch. With efficiency of up to 98.3 percent, the new ICs deliver up to 240 W without a heat sink and can achieve a power factor of better than 0.98. HiperPFS-5 ICs are i
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Date:
03/28/2022
10W and 15W units added to low profile open frame power supplies
Benefiting from the latest power switching technologies, the LHA10F and LHA15F are 15% smaller and offer a leakage current 50% lower than conventional products on the market. Designed for use in a wide range of applications, the LHA10F and LHA15F are able to operate in a wide temperature range from -10 to +70 degr
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Date:
03/28/2022
Navitas Announces World’s First 20-Year Warranty for GaN ICs
Navitas Semiconductor has announced a breakthrough 20-year limited warranty for its GaNFast technology – 10x longer than typical silicon, SiC or discrete GaN power semiconductors – and a critical accelerator for GaN’s adoption in data center, solar and EV markets.   GaN is a next-generation semiconductor te
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Date:
03/28/2022
650 V MOSFETs in D²PAK for low losses and high reliability
The devices build on Infineon’s state-of-the-art SiC trench technology and come in a compact D 2PAK SMD 7-pin package with .XT interconnection technology. They target high power applications including servers, telecom, industrial SMPS, fast EV charging, motor drives, solar energy systems, energy storage, and batter
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Date:
03/28/2022
Infineon releases new EiceDRIVER 2EDN product family
Aiming at space-limited designs, the next-generation devices complement the existing 2EDN driver ICs by providing higher system-level efficiencies, excellent power density, and consistent system robustness with fewer external components. Building upon this expansion, the 2EDN family is now able to drive the power s
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Date:
03/28/2022
Infineon is launching EDT2 IGBTs in a TO247PLUS package
The devices are optimized for automotive discrete traction inverters and expand Infineon's portfolio of discrete high-voltage devices for automotive applications. Due to their high quality, the IGBTs meet and exceed the industry standard AECQ101 for automotive components. As a result, the devices can significantly increa
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Date:
03/28/2022
ROHM's QuiCur Technology Maximizes the Response Performance of Power Supply ICs
ROHM Semiconductor introduced a new power supply technology, QuiCur, that improves the load transient response characteristics (response performance involving response speed, and voltage stability of subsequent stage) of DC/DC converter ICs (switching regulators) and LDOs (linear regulators). In recent yea
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Date:
03/25/2022
Allied Supplies Hardware for Phoenix Contact's New PLCnext IIoT Software Solution
Allied Electronics & Automation supplies hardware for Phoenix Contact’s new PLCnext Edge Gateway software, a state-of-the-art IIoT edge computing solution designed for data collection in demanding industrial and manufacturing environments. The new PLCnext Edge Gateway software is
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Date:
03/25/2022
EA Elektro-Automatik Introduces its 10000 Series of Programmable DC Power Products
EA Elektro-Automatik introduces its 10000 series enhanced and expanded line of EA-PS and EA-PSI programmable DC power supplies, EA-PSB bidirectional DC power supplies, and EA-ELR regenerative DC electronic loads. The new product launch includes four classes of new 2U models offering a greater range of power fr
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Date:
03/25/2022
PSDcast – The Growth and Market for Silicon Carbide

Infineon’s VP of Silicon Carbide, Peter Friedrichs

We’re all familiar with GaN and SiC at this point, and they’ve begun to infiltrate nearly every corner of the market. But several questions remain, and here with us to talk about wide bandgap devices is Infineon’s VP of Silicon Carbide, Peter Friedrichs.
Date:
03/23/2022
PSDcast – Virginia Tech's Self-Powered Autonomous Robot

Andrew Choi, graduate research assistant and captain of the winning Virginia Tech student team.

The Energy Tech University Prize is an ongoing student competition to identify an innovative energy technology, assess its market potential, and propose a strategy for commercialization. For the Carolinas regional portion of the contest, the overall winner was a team from Virginia Tech, with a self-powered autonomous ro
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Date:
03/22/2022
High-Voltage Cartridge Fuse Features AEC-Q200 Compliant Overcurrent Protection
Littelfuse, Inc. announced the new 828 Series High-Voltage Cartridge Fuses, designed and tested to meet the circuit protection needs of compact automotive electronics, specifically Electric Vehicle (EV) applications.  These robust fuses are Littelfuse internal AEC-Q200 compliant, providing a hi
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Date:
03/22/2022
High-Power Capacitor Charging High-Voltage Power Supplies
Dean Technology, Inc. announced the introduction of a new series of high voltage power supplies designed specifically for exceptional performance in capacitor charging applications requiring higher voltage and higher power. The new UMR-HPC series, which is an extension of the existing UMR Collection o
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Date:
03/22/2022
Transphorm's SuperGaN FETs Power Crypto Mining Power Supply
Transphorm, Inc. along with Boco Electronics released that the electronics company’s 3.6 kW power supply uses SuperGaN FETs. The robust 12-volt AC-to-DC power supply achieves a peak efficiency of greater than 96%  and is designed to be used in rugged environments caused by ultra-demanding ap
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Date:
03/22/2022
140W Power Supply Design with High- and Low-Voltage GaN Switches

Dr. Denis Marcon, General Manager of Innoscience Europe and Marketing Manager for the USA and Europe

Innoscience Technology announced a new ultra-high-density 140W power supply demo that uses the company's high- and low-voltage GaN HEMT devices to achieve efficiencies of over 95% (230VAC; 5V/28A). Measuring just 60x60x22mm (2.4x2.4x0.9in) the PSU has a class-leading power density of 1.76W/cm3 (29W/in3). Dr. Denis Marcon,
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Date:
03/22/2022
Nexperia Officially Launches new Dallas Design Center

Irene Deng, general manager business group, Power and Signal Conversion at Nexperia

Nexperia announced the official launch of its new design center in Dallas, Texas. Having recently celebrated its 5th anniversary as an independent company, this development marks another major step towards Nexperia’s stated goal of becoming a world leader in essential semiconductors by 2030. The Dallas de
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Date:
03/22/2022
Chipset Boosts LLC Converter Efficiency, Slashes Component Count by 40 Percent
Power Integrations announced the energy-saving HiperLCSTM-2 chipset, a new IC family that dramatically simplifies the design and manufacture of LLC resonant power converters. The new dual-chip solution features an isolation device with a high-bandwidth LLC controller, synchronous rectification driver a
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Date:
03/22/2022
Silanna Semiconductor Announces First Multi-Port Production-Ready Fast Charger Reference Design
Silanna Semiconductor, The Power Density Leader, has announced its first multi-port fast charger reference design. Bringing together the company’s CO2 Smart Power families of advanced ACF controllers and high-frequency DC/DC converters, the new AnyPort RD-5 delivers a high-power-density, ultra-efficient, production-rea
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Date:
03/22/2022
Could we Make Cars out of Petroleum Residue?

Professor Jeffrey Grossman from MIT

As the world struggles to improve the efficiency of cars and other vehicles in order to curb greenhouse gas emissions and improve the range of electric vehicles, the search is on for ever-lighter materials that are strong enough to be used in the bodies of cars. Lightweight materials made from carbon fiber, si
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Date:
03/21/2022
Direct Generation of Complex Structured Light

Intracavity nonlinear frequency conversion of transverse mode locking states generates new structured beams.

Extension of laser beam structures promises new laser applications. Exploration of how beam structures change during nonlinear frequency conversion processes has drawn increasing interest in recent years. Nonlinear conversion is an excellent route for structured beam generation and represents a growing, hybrid fi
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Date:
03/21/2022
Researchers Develop the World's First Power-Free Frequency Tuner Using Nanomaterials

Professor Ritesh Agarwal, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania

In a paper published in Nature Communications, researchers at the University of Oxford and the University of Pennsylvania have found a power-free and ultra-fast way of frequency tuning using functional nanowires. Think of an orchestra warming up before the performance. The oboe starts to play a pe
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Date:
03/21/2022
New Approach to Bimetallic Catalysis Enhances Rate Through Electrochemical Communication

Steven McIntosh, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Lehigh

Catalysts, that make chemical reactions occur faster and more efficiently, are used in the production of most of the chemicals people use daily, such as gasoline, fertilizers and, even, margarine. The problem? Many of these catalytic processes require a tremendous amount of energy, often in the form of heat, an
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Date:
03/21/2022
Industry-Leading 3.3 kV SiC Power Devices Enabling New Levels of Efficiency and Reliability
System designers of traction power units (TPUs), auxiliary power units (APUs), solid-state transformers (SSTs), industrial motor drives and energy infrastructure solutions require high-voltage switching technology to increase efficiency, reduce system size and weight and enhance reliability. Microchip Technology In
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Date:
03/21/2022
Silanna Semiconductor and Smarter Living Collaborate on World's Smallest In-Wall 65W GaN Charger
Silanna Semiconductor, The Power Density Leader, and smart socket outlet specialist Smarter Living, have announced the world’s smallest 65W in-wall GaN (gallium nitride) fast charger. Measuring just 42mm x 42mm x 30mm, the new 3510PDFE charger is built around Silanna’s SZ1131 active clamp flyback (ACF) controller an
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Date:
03/21/2022
Empower Semiconductor Launches First Quad-Output IVR Series
Empower Semiconductor, Inc. has announced a series of quad-output step-down converters that combine the industry’s highest current density and efficiency, the fastest dynamic voltage scaling (DVS) and transient response, and extensive fault protection. As with previous members of Empower’s IVR family, the ne
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Date:
03/21/2022
High-Power Totem Pole PFC Controller Meets Challenging Efficiency Standard
onsemi introduced its latest mixed-signal controller dedicated to bridgeless totem pole PFC (TP PFC) topology. The NCP1681 targets ultra-high density offline power supplies. Building upon the success of the NCP1680, which is suited for designs up to 350 W, the new controller extends th
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Date:
03/21/2022
Bridging Batteries and Supercapacitors

Yury Gogotsi, PhD, Distinguished University and Bach professor in Drexel’s College of Engineering

For decades researchers and technologists have regarded batteries and capacitors as two distinct energy storage devices — batteries, known for storing more energy but releasing it slowly; capacitors, for quickly discharging it in smaller spurts. Each new energy storage device has therefore been categorized as
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Date:
03/21/2022
Magnet-Free Chiral Nanowires for Spintronic Devices

Tellurium chiral structures

Chiral materials are an ideal playground for exploring the relation between symmetry, relativistic effects, and electronic transport. For instance, chiral organic molecules have been intensively studied to electrically generate spin-polarized currents in the last decade, but their poor electronic conductivity li
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Date:
03/21/2022
650 V SiC MOSFETs Deliver Reliable, Easy-to-Use, and Cost-Effective Top Performance
Megatrends like digitalization, urbanization, and electromobility lead to increased power consumption. At the same time, energy efficiency is getting more and more important. Infineon Technologies AG responds to these megatrends and resulting demands by offering a new family of CoolSiC 650 V silicon carbide (S
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Date:
03/21/2022
Gate Driver ICs set a new Benchmark for Form-Factor
Infineon Technologies AG releases a new EiceDRIVER 2EDN product family. Aiming at space-limited designs, the next-generation devices complement the existing 2EDN driver ICs by providing higher system-level efficiencies, excellent power density, and consistent system robustness with fewer external components. Bu
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Date:
03/18/2022
Toward a Quantum Computer that Calculates Molecular Energy

The hybrid algorithm uses a classic and quantum computer to calculate ground state energy. This will help researchers develop new materials for different applications, including sustainability goals.

Quantum computers are getting bigger, but there are still few practical ways to take advantage of their extra computing power. To get over this hurdle, researchers are designing algorithms to ease the transition from classical to quantum computers. In a new study in Nature, researchers unveil an algorithm th
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Date:
03/17/2022
Catalyst for a Greener Future

According to researchers in the Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation at the University of Delaware, irrigating a catalyst with hydrogen boosts the active sites and accelerates the chemistry that occurs there.

Catalysts are workhorses that help reactions occur. Put to work, they transform starting materials, such as fossil fuels, biomass or even waste, into products and fuels with minimal energy.  Researchers in the Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation (CCEI) at the University of Delaware have foun
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Date:
03/17/2022
Envision AESC and Mercedes-Benz Announce new Battery Partnership

Lei Zhang, Executive Chairman, Envision AESC

Envision AESC, world-leading battery producer, announces a new partnership with Mercedes-Benz as the luxury automotive brand gets ready to go all electric. Under the new agreement, Envision AESC will supply high-performance battery cell modules to support end to end production of all-electric Mercedes-EQ vehicles
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Date:
03/17/2022
PSDcast – Liability with Semi- and Fully-Autonomous Vehicles

Kevin Vincent, the Director of Coventry University’s Centre for Connected and Autonomous Automotive Research

Autonomous vehicles are continuing to progress, and as they do, some thorny issues are beginning to crop up – like liability…who pays the piper when a self-driving car causes an accident? The occupants or the manufacturer? Here to discuss these issues and several related ones is Kevin Vincent, the Director of
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Date:
03/16/2022
World's Lowest Quiescent Power Notebook Multiphase VR Controller
Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Limited (AOS) announced the release of the AOZ71026QI, a 2 rail, 6 phase controller for notebook Vcore power delivery. The new device features the world’s lowest quiescent power for a multiphase controller designed to meet Intel IMVP 8, 9, 9.1, and 9.2 specifications. Co
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Date:
03/16/2022
Growing Zinc Battery Initiative Welcomes Startup Zēlos Energy

Sébastien Bélanger, President, CEO, and Co-Founder of Zēlos Energy

Silicon Valley startup Zēlos Energy announces plans to join the  Zinc Battery Initiative (ZBI), the voice of the zinc battery industry. ZBI’s rapidly growing membership is comprised of leading zinc battery manufacturers, including Zēlos, which has developed a sustainable, safe zinc-manganese battery de
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Date:
03/16/2022
Next-Generation Networking Switches to Help Futureproof Industrial Automation
Moxa Inc., announced the launch of its next-generation industrial Ethernet switches, the EDS-4000/G4000 Series. The new Series includes 68 models that will help Moxa’s customers build futureproof industrial networks to strengthen operational resilience in industrial sectors such as power, transportation, marit
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Date:
03/16/2022
NYPA Partners with New Hartford to Replace All Town Streetlights with LED Fixtures
The New York Power Authority (NYPA) and the Town of New Hartford in Oneida County began the installation of energy-efficient LED streetlights throughout the town as part of the state’s Smart Street Lighting NY program. New York has now replaced more than 300,000 of its streetlights with LED fixtures, a
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Date:
03/16/2022
Scientists Devise new Technique to Increase Chip Yield from Semiconductor Wafer

(L-R) Assistant Professor Kim Munho from the School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering and PhD students Kim Youjin and Liao Yikai from NTU Singapore, are part of the NTU-KIMM research team.

Scientists from the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) and the Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials (KIMM) have developed a technique to create a highly uniform and scalable semiconductor wafer, paving the way to higher chip yield and more cost-efficient semiconductors. Semiconductor chips com
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Date:
03/16/2022
PSDcast – Do we Need Fossil Fuel Backup for Grid Stability?

Eric Powell, the Director for North America at Partners in Performance

In order to achieve the advanced smart grid we’re all pining for, we need stable, reliable sources of power. Renewable energy will certainly fill that role to some extent. But a strong possibility remains that we’ll still need fossil fuel backup in order to maintain grid stability for the foreseeable future. An
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Date:
03/15/2022
WPC Qi 1.3-Certified Reference Design for Automotive In-Cabin Wireless Charging
Renesas Electronics Corporation released a next-generation customer reference design for automotive wireless charging stations. The new P9261-3C-CRBv2 provides industry-leading features that enable automotive manufacturers to quickly and efficiently deliver premium performance and safety features for in-cabin wi
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Date:
03/15/2022
SiTime Transforms Precision Timing Market for Edge Networks
SiTime Corporation introduced the Elite X Super-TCXO for edge networks such as data centers, 5G front haul, connected cars and industrial IoT. In these applications, Elite X solves critical timing problems and enables delivery of new services.  To enable new time-sensitive services such as ADAS,
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Date:
03/15/2022
Green Cubes Technology Announces Motive Battery Charger Product Line

Material Handling Charger available in 15kW & 30 kW models with 1, 2 or 3 outputs

Green Cubes Technology (Green Cubes) introduces the Lithium SAFEFlex Chargers to complement its market leading Lithium SAFEFlex Batteries. Green Cubes is the only manufacturer to offer enterprises both Lithium-ion batteries and affiliated chargers to the Material Handling industry, thus simplifying the electrification of
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Date:
03/15/2022
TDK Expands Notch Filter Lineup with Built-in ESD Protection Function
TDK Corporation announces the release of its newly developed AVRF041A150MT242 and AVRF061D2R4ST532 notch filters with ESD protection function. Volume production of these devices will begin in March 2022. The new notch filters are compliant with the IEC61000-4-2 Level 4 immunity standard. They are well suite
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Date:
03/15/2022
Lowest On-Resistance Rad Hard Transistor Available on the Market for Demanding Space Applications
EPC announces the introduction of the EPC7019 radiation-hardened eGaN FET. The EPC7019, a 40 V, 1.5 mΩ, 530 APulsed, rad-hard eGaN FET in a small 13.9 mm2 footprint. The EPC7019 has a total dose rating greater than 1 Mrad and SEE immunity for LET of 85 MeV/(mg/cm2). These devices are offered in a chip-scale p
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Date:
03/15/2022
ROHM 12-Channel LED Driver IC Available from TTI
TTI, Inc., a leading specialty distributor of electronic components, now offers the ROHM BD8379FV-M LED Driver Series. These highly integrated 12-channel drivers are optimized for signage and illumination applications requiring precise control of color, uniformity and intensity. ROHM’s BD8379FV-M is a seri
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Date:
03/14/2022
Kronos Fusion Energy Looks to Take the Next Steps With Direct Fusion Drive

Brig. Gen. (Ret) Paul E. Owen, CEO of Kronos Fusion Energy Defense Systems

The promise of fusion energy generation offers not just the potential for limitless energy on earth, but the action of the fusion reaction can also be harnessed as thrust to propel a spaceship faster than ever imagined, revolutionizing space travel to open up deep space exploration and rapid inter-planetary tr
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Date:
03/14/2022
Navitas GaN ICs Drive Samsung Galaxy S22 Fast Charging
Navitas Semiconductor has announced that its GaNFast technology has been selected for Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S22 Ultra and S22+ smartphones. The small, powerful 45W Super Fast charger has the highest power density of any Samsung charger, enabled by GaNFast power ICs. The S22 Ultra, with 6.8” screen a
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Date:
03/14/2022
EPC, Analog Devices Deliver up to 2 MHz Switching Frequency for the Highest Density DC-DC Converters Using GaN FETs
EPC announces the availability of the EPC9160, a dual output synchronous buck converter reference design board operating at 2 MHz switching frequency that converts an input voltage of 9 V to 24 V to a 3.3 V or 5 V output voltage and delivers up to 15 A continuous current for both outputs. Thanks to the hi
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Date:
03/14/2022
Objects in Driverless Car Sensors may be Closer Than They Appear

Researchers have shown that a popular method to secure LiDAR sensors against "naive attacks" is still vulnerable at longer distances and only works at short distances. Here, a LiDAR system is fooled into thinking a car is somewhere else until it becomes too late to avoid a sudden and drastic course correction.

Researchers at Duke University have demonstrated the first attack strategy that can fool industry-standard autonomous vehicle sensors into believing nearby objects are closer (or further) than they appear without being detected. The research suggests that adding optical 3D capabilities or the ability to share
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Date:
03/14/2022
600V 110mOhm and 140mOhm Super Junction MOSFETs in DFN8x8 Package
Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Limited (AOS) announced the release of 600V 110mOhm and 140mOhm αMOS5 Super Junction MOSFETs in DFN8x8 Package. αMOS5 is AOS’s latest generation of high voltage MOSFET, designed to meet the high efficiency and high-density needs for Quick Charger, Adapter, PC Power, Server, In
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Date:
03/11/2022
All-Silicon 45W Ultra-Efficient Production-Ready Fast Charger Reference Designs
Silanna Semiconductor has further expanded its family of silicon- and GaN-based fast charger reference designs with an all-silicon option that will significantly reduce the time needed to develop high-density 45W applications. Supplied as a fully production-ready solution, the new RD-24 design provides everything ne
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Date:
03/11/2022
PSDcast – Redefining how Electricity is Distributed

Luke Getto, VoltServer’s director of product management

It’s not often that we come across a technology…or a concept that could reinvent the very way electricity is distributed. But that’s exactly what the good folks at Voltserver are promising with their Digital Electricity method.
Date:
03/10/2022
KYOCERA AVX to Acquire ROHM Co., Ltd.'s Tantalum and Polymer Capacitor Business Assets

Johnny Sarvis, CEO of KYOCERA AVX

KYOCERA AVX is set to acquire ROHM Semiconductor’s tantalum and polymer capacitor business assets. The two companies recently reached a final agreement, which states that ROHM Semiconductor (ROHM Co., Ltd.) will transfer its tantalum and polymer capacitor business assets — including all of its tantalum an
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Date:
03/09/2022
Laird Thermal Systems Launches Alternative Refrigerant-Based Cooling Systems Initiative

Dr. Sang Muk Kwark, Staff Scientist at Laird Thermal Systems

Laird Thermal Systems has launched an initiative to introduce the use of alternative refrigerants in refrigeration-based cooling systems to address global warming and changes in regulatory requirements in the cooling industry. Many years ago, the industry moved away from using flammable, environmentally friendly re
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Date:
03/09/2022
6K and Our Next Energy Collaborate to Create Low-Cost Gemini Cathode Material

Mujeeb Ijaz, founder and chief executive officer, Our Next Energy

6K and Our Next Energy Inc. (ONE) announced a partnership as ONE looks to scale up and commercialize its Gemini cell chemistry. The organization signed a letter of intent outlining how the companies will work to
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Date:
03/09/2022
Low-Power BioZ AFE Shrinks Size for BioZ Monitoring
Reduce the size and extend the life of bioimpedance (BioZ) remote-patient monitoring (RPM) devices with the MAX30009 low-power, high-performance BioZ analog front-end (AFE) from Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI). For developers of small, battery-powered, continuously wearable devices, this AFE on a chip offers cl
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Date:
03/09/2022
CPS Energy, Quidnet Energy to Build Grid-Scale Pumped Storage Project in Texas

President & CEO Rudy Garza

CPS Energy and Quidnet Energy today announced a 15-year commercial agreement for an energy storage project employing Quidnet's Geomechanical Pumped Storage (GPS) technology.  This project will support CPS Energy's 'Flexible Path' Resource Plan to reduce net emissions by 80 percent by 2040. Ener
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Date:
03/07/2022
TTI Stocks Prism Bi-Level LED Circuit Board Indicators
TTI, Inc., is now stocking Dialight’s 596-1616-013F Prism IceBlue LED Circuit Board Indicators. These small form factor indicator lights are designed to meet the unique requirements of interface cards, networking and test equipment applications. Dialight’s 596-1616-013F Prism LED Circuit Board Indicator
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Date:
03/07/2022
PSDcast -- System Solutions for Robots and Cordless Power Tool Applications

Nenad Belancic – Global Application Manager Robots & Drones, Infineon Technologies

We’ve been running an article series from Infineon on “System solutions for battery-powered applications,” and we thought it was worth delving a little deeper – specifically, part 1, or “System solutions for robots and cordless power tool applications: A move towards the future,” by Infineon’s Ne
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Date:
03/03/2022
Highest-Performance 16-Channel PCIe Gen 5 Enterprise NVMe SSD Controller
As data processing requirements continue to evolve, cloud-scale infrastructure requires solutions that maximize bandwidth, minimize latency, and are optimized for efficient resource utilization. Microchip Technology Inc. announced the newest member of the Flashtec controller family, the NVMe 4016 SS
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Date:
03/02/2022
24 GHz to 44 GHz Wideband Integrated Upconverters and Downconverters Boost Microwave Radio Performance While Reducing Size

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Figure 1a: The ADMV1013 upconverter chip block diagram

Analog Devices launched a pair of highly integrated microwave upconverter and downconverter chips, the ADMV1013 and the ADMV1014, respectively. These ICs operate over a very wide frequency range with 50 Ωmatch from 24 GHz up to 44 GHz and can support more than 1 GHzinstantaneous bandwidth. Performance attributes of
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Date:
03/01/2022
Offshore Charging Could Cut Marine Emissions
It is estimated that shipping carries over 90% of the world’s trade, and is currently responsible for around 3% of its carbon emissions along with the emission of other pollutants such as black carbon, nitrogen oxides and nitrous oxide. Because shipping is not part of many treaties agreed between countries an
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Date:
03/01/2022
The Super Bowl Underlines the Fact that EVs have Gone Mainstream
In case you missed it (and judging by its 112 million viewership total, few did), electric vehicles made a HUGE impact at Super Bowl – especially in the $6.5 million per 30-second commercial realm. I recently recapped the Top 5 EV ads from Super Bowl 2022 in our online blog section, and I’d rather avoid too much redundancy, but I’d
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Date:
03/01/2022
Wide Bandgap Comes Through Its Learning Curve
The first wide bandgap devices that entered the market were oversold due to investors, VC capital companies and other players hoping for a quick return on investment. Some said, for example, that gallium nitride devices would completely replace and improve silicon in every application. This of course was a dream. Wide Bandgap t
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Date:
03/01/2022
Closing the Gap on Wide Band Gap Semiconductors?

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Figure 1: Experienced power designers have crossed that technological chasm many times, with the latest one being the migration from analog control to digital (Source: PRBX)

For a power designer, any new technology that makes it possible to improve performance whilst simultaneously making products smaller and more energy efficient is a very exciting concept. Over the last century the world of power electronics has witnessed many innovations, with the latest major one being the move fr
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Date:
03/01/2022
Enabling Super-Dense Flyback Power Supplies

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Figure 1: A passive primary clamp RCD solution (highlighted) is highly dissipative and limits the efficiency and operating frequency of flyback power supplies

Off-line flyback power supplies require a clamp circuit (sometimes called a snubber) on the primary side of the transformer to limit the drain-source voltage stress on the power MOSFET when this switch turns off during normal operation. There are several approaches to designing these clamp circuits. Low-cost pa
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Date:
03/01/2022
Roadblocks to GaN Adoption in Power Systems

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Figure 1: Pricing comparison between eGaN FETs and MOSFETs. Prices were for 1,000 pieces in February 2022

In many applications, such as lidar and space electronics, adoption of GaN has been extremely rapid.  Lidar flourished as a result of the extremely high speed of GaN devices, which is more than 10 times faster than the aging silicon MOSFET.  Space electronics has rapidly accepted GaN-on-Si power transistors du
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Date:
03/01/2022
Evaluating Voltage Regulator Stability Using Step Load Testing

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Figure 1: Test set up for VR stability evaluation

Engineers are busy replacing and updating their aged PC boards that use traditional transistors, typically super-junction silicon MOSFETs and Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs). One hot area in this upgrading process is power supplies for pulse-load applications, such as laser pulse drivers, light bea
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Date:
03/01/2022
Approaches for Driving GaN Devices and Simplifying Gate Drive Design

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Figure 1. GaN transistors enable more efficient, cooler-running, compact, and cost-efficient designs

GaN offers low RDSon/VDSon, high electron mobility, and other characteristics that result in more efficient designs. Higher switching frequencies allow designers to make tradeoffs between efficiency and switching speed for application-optimized designs. These characteristics enable more efficient solutions, run
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Date:
03/01/2022
Using Distributed 48 V Instead of 12 V in Datacenters

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Figure 1: Early datacenters used distributed AC for each shelf in a rack

The measure of datacenter energy efficiency is ‘Power Usage Effectiveness’ or PUE, and the best ‘hyperscale’ installations achieve a figure of about 1.1, or 100 W lost in cooling, distribution and power conversion for every kW used by the IT equipment. As best practices trickle down to smaller datacenters, th
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Date:
03/01/2022
Investigating Power Delivery For Complex Processing

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Figure 1: The functional block diagram of the TPSM8282xA buck converter range (source TI)

Processors are increasingly highly integrated devices. Squeezing more functionality into a single package offers optimal PCB space use, optimises BOM cost, and eases power management challenges. This approach is good news for many applications, from inference at the edge, compute-intensive search acceleration and ind
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Date:
03/01/2022
Why GaN Enables High Efficiency in Totem-Pole PFC-Based Power Designs

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Figure 1: PFC topologies: dual-boost PFC (a) and boost PFC (b)

Almost all of the popular modern-day trends involve an AC/DC power supply, which takes energy from the AC grid and delivers it to the electrical equipment as a well-regulated DC. With the increasing power consumption in these systems, the associated energy losses in the AC/DC power conversion process becomes a si
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Date:
03/01/2022
Safely Connect Solar PV to Electrical Systems

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Figure 1. Longtime Eaton investments in onsite clean energy systems help reduce carbon emissions and energy costs, including this solar PV system at the company’s building outside of Cleveland. Image courtesy of Eaton. Photography: © David Sundberg/Esto

The fact that we’ll fill so much of our future energy needs with solar doesn’t come as a surprise. Businesses and communities have been steadily striving to become self-sufficient power producers that can generate, store, consume and even sell excess renewable energy back to their utility. Knowing what it t
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Date:
03/01/2022
A Focus on Wide Bandgap
Hopefully, all is well wherever you are based and things are returning to normal. March marks the start of Spring, and it is usually a time that is full on for the industry, with APEC, the largest power show in the Americas scheduled at the end of the month. APEC will return to an in-person format this year, so
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Date:
03/01/2022
Live from Houston, it’s APEC! (and the continual evolution of WBG)
Our March issue focuses on arguably the hottest industry topic over the last several years, Wide Bandgap Technology. But first, later this month marks one of our industry’s most humble little victories over COVID-19, and that’s the Applied Power Electronics Conference’s (APEC’s) return to a fully in-person fo
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Date:
03/01/2022
Device Packaging is the Key to Effective Thermal Management

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Figure 1: OBC design presents a number of challenges to power designers

Within the automotive industry, development and innovation continue at a rapid pace in almost all aspects of vehicle design, from the chassis to the powertrain, infotainment, connectivity, and automation. However, with the time taken to recharge electric vehicles (EVs) – especially in-journey – being cited
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Date:
03/01/2022
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