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Efficient Power Conversion has published its Phase 18 Reliability Report, introducing advanced methodologies to better predict the real-world lifetime and reliability of eGaN® power devices.
The report focuses on bridging the gap between laboratory testing and actual operating conditions by analyzing fundamental wear-out mechanisms in GaN HEMTs and linking them to mission-specific stress profiles. It presents a quantitative framework that combines multiple stress factors—such as voltage, current, temperature, and duty cycles—to deliver more accurate lifetime estimations across diverse applications.
A key advancement in Phase 18 is the deeper analysis of critical reliability aspects, including gate reliability in pGaN structures, overvoltage robustness, current density limits, and thermomechanical wear in both chip-scale and packaged devices. The report also evaluates performance under dynamic switching and high-frequency conditions, reflecting real application environments more closely than traditional static testing.
In addition, EPC introduces mission-specific reliability testing, with a focus on applications such as motor drives that involve rapid current transients and variable load conditions. These tailored stress simulations demonstrate the robustness of GaN devices under realistic operating scenarios.
From a market perspective, this report highlights a crucial industry shift: as GaN adoption accelerates, especially in AI power, motor drives, and high-frequency converters, reliability modeling becomes a key differentiator. Improved lifetime prediction reduces design risk and supports broader deployment in mission-critical systems.
By aligning reliability analysis with real-world use cases, EPC is reinforcing confidence in GaN technology and enabling system designers to optimize performance, efficiency, and durability in next-generation power electronics.
Original – Efficient Power Conversion
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Efficient Power Conversion introduced the EPC91121 evaluation board at APEC 2026, showcasing its latest Gen-7 eGaN® technology for high-efficiency motor drive applications.
The EPC91121 is a compact three-phase inverter platform (79 mm × 80 mm) designed for rapid prototyping of advanced motor control systems in applications such as robotics, drones, industrial automation, and battery-powered tools. It supports input voltages from 18 V to 30 V and delivers up to 70 A peak output current, making it well-suited for 24 V systems.
At the core of the design is the EPC2366 40 V Gen-7 eGaN transistor, featuring ultra-low on-resistance of 0.84 mΩ. This enables high switching frequencies up to 150 kHz—significantly above traditional silicon-based solutions—allowing for reduced passive component size, lower switching losses, and improved system responsiveness.
The board integrates key inverter functions including gate drivers, current sensing, voltage and temperature monitoring, and housekeeping power supplies. High-bandwidth current sensing (±125 A) across all three phases, combined with voltage feedback, supports advanced motor control techniques such as field-oriented control (FOC) and space-vector PWM.
Additional features such as encoder and Hall sensor interfaces, multiple test points, and compatibility with control platforms from Renesas Electronics Corporation, Microchip Technology, Texas Instruments, and STMicroelectronicsenable seamless integration into existing development ecosystems.
From a market perspective, this release highlights the increasing role of GaN in low- to mid-voltage motor drives, where high switching frequency and efficiency translate directly into smaller, lighter, and more responsive systems. The availability of complete evaluation platforms further accelerates GaN adoption by reducing development complexity and time-to-market for next-generation electrified applications.
Original – Efficient Power Conversion
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Renesas Electronics Corporation has launched the TP65B110HRU, the industry’s first bidirectional GaN switch based on depletion-mode (d-mode) technology, enabling both positive and negative current blocking in a single device.
The new 650V SuperGaN® device is designed to simplify power conversion architectures in applications such as solar microinverters, AI data centers, and onboard EV chargers. By replacing traditional back-to-back FET configurations, the device allows true single-stage power conversion, reducing component count, system complexity, and losses.
Conventional silicon and SiC switches are unidirectional, requiring multi-stage topologies or back-to-back configurations that increase switch count and reduce efficiency. In contrast, Renesas’ bidirectional GaN device integrates this functionality into a single component. For example, a solar microinverter can reduce its switch count by half and eliminate DC-link capacitors, while achieving efficiencies above 97.5%.
The device combines a high-voltage GaN structure with co-packaged low-voltage silicon MOSFETs, enabling compatibility with standard gate drivers without requiring negative gate bias. This simplifies gate drive design while maintaining robust switching performance in both hard- and soft-switching topologies. With dv/dt immunity exceeding 100 V/ns and low on-resistance of 110 mΩ, the device supports high-frequency, high-density designs.
From a technology perspective, this marks a significant step toward system-level simplification in power electronics. Bidirectional GaN enables new converter topologies, particularly in high-growth segments like AI power infrastructure and distributed energy systems, where efficiency, density, and BOM reduction are critical.
Renesas is positioning the device within its broader system solution strategy, offering evaluation kits and “Winning Combinations” that integrate controllers, drivers, and power devices to accelerate time-to-market and reduce design risk.
Original – Renesas Electronics
