Friday's Interview: GaN for Space
Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio
Content Editor & Technical Writer | Ph.D | Power Electronics, Renewable Energy, Embedded Systems, Quantum Computing
GaN Transistor for Space Missions
By Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio
GaN power transistors are an ideal choice for power and RF applications to support extreme space missions.?EPC Space?guarantees radiation hardness performance and SEE (single-event effects) immunity through its new eGaN solutions, with devices that are specifically designed for critical applications in commercial satellite space and have exceptionally high electron mobility and a low-temperature coefficient with very low RDS(on) values.
“EPC Space is a joint venture between VPT and EPC. VPT is a leader in power conversion for avionics, military, space, and industrial applications, while EPC is a leader in GaN-based power conversion technology. EPC Space is the successor to Freebird Semiconductor, established in 2015,”said Bel Lazar CEO at EPC Space.
Modern telecommunications satellites have a structure that is designed to optimize the process of placing them in a proper orbit and to better enable their function.?A satellite is composed of a central part where most of the electronic equipment, the propulsion system, and the relative tanks are located. The electronics onboard the various satellites in orbit around the Earth and in the exploration satellites in the farthest areas, experience some form of energy through gamma rays, neutrons and heavy ions.
Discovering GaN for Power Design in Space - An Interview with Alex Lidow
By Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio
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Modern telecommunications satellites feature a construction that is meant to make the process of placing them in the correct orbit and enabling them to function more efficiently. A satellite is made up of a core section that houses the majority of the electrical equipment, the propulsion system, and the associated tanks. Through gamma rays, neutrons, and heavy ions, the electronics onboard the different satellites in orbit around the Earth, as well as the exploration satellites in the furthest locations, are exposed to some sort of energy.
Protons make up 85% of?space radiation , whereas heavier nuclei make up 15%. The impacts of radiation can cause the device’s functioning to deteriorate, interrupt, or discontinue.
This bombardment can harm the semiconductor in a variety of ways, including crystal disintegration. It may, for example, create traps in the non-conduction zone or a cloud of electron-hole pairs that imbalance the device’s functioning by causing short-circuits. Because electron-hole pairs cannot be formed in gallium nitride devices, energetic particles from space cannot induce a brief short-circuit.
GaN-based Rad-tolerant DC/DC Converters Increase Efficiency in Critical Applications
By Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio
In the last few years, the space market has been moving toward more efficient power solutions by adopting new technologies previously unseen in space systems. Space hardware is subjected to harsh environmental conditions, including ionizing radiation, necessitating the use of radiation-resistant components. Since several years ago, radiation-tolerant power MOSFETs have been available, but they have sacrificed electrical performance to achieve great radiation tolerance. That resulted in a conversion efficiency of space-level power supplies being much lower than that of commercial power supplies. Among the newest technologies has emerged?Gallium Nitride ?(GaN), a wide bandgap semiconductor which has a greater power conversion efficiency than silicon and inherent radiation immunity.