Electronics Weekly Electronics Design & Components Tech News
Integration and miniaturisation were key themes and Silanna Semiconductor introduced the SZ1200 to its CO2 Smart Power family of AC-DC and DC-DC converters.
The active clamp flyback controller integrates adaptive digital PWM control with a 700V primary GaN fet, X capacitor discharge circuit, active clamp driver and start-up regulator. It recycles the flyback transformer’s leakage inductance energy and limits primary fet drain voltage spikes during turn-off events.
Efficiency is above 93% at low line. Universal input range is 90Vac to 265Vac and loading conditions are up to 150W.
The company’s OptiMode digital control architecture adjusts operation mode on a cycle-by-cycle basis to maintain high efficiency, low EMI, fast dynamic load regulation and other key power supply parameters as line voltage and load vary. The controller is designed for high efficiency and high-power-density power supplies, USB-PD/QC AC/DC power adapters and battery charging applications.
Rohm Semiconductor rose above the industry’s GaN vs SiC debate with announcements from both camps. The first was a design win for its 650V GaN device, the EcoGaN, for the 45W output USB-C charger C4 Duo by Innergie (a Delta brand).
See: APEC 2024: GaN and SiC updates from Rohm (electronicsweekly.com)
APEC 2024
Jay Barrus, president Rohm Semiconductor Americas, confirmed that a power module is in development, to be released in 2025 and that the company is developing its fifth generation SiC, which will be available in one to two years’ time.
To reduce the bulk in multiple voltage rail applications, Power Integrations’ InnoMux ICs are single-stage, independently regulated multi-output offline power-supply ICs. They consolidate AC-DC and downstream DC-DC conversion stages into a single chip to eliminate post regulators.
See: Power Integrations takes on post regulators with InnoMux IC (electronicsweekly.com)
Power supplies
Advanced Energy was showcasing the first member of its NeoPower family of configurable multi-output supplies, the NP08 kW AC-DC power supply .
See: APEC 2024: NP08 4kW ac-dc power supply (electronicsweekly.com)
Tektronix and EA Elektro-Automatik (EA) celebrated the new footing of their relationship at APEC. It was only in January of this year that the acquisition by Fortive brought EA into the Precision Technologies segment where Tektronix resides.
EA specialises in high power electronic testing for energy storage, mobility, hydrogen and renewable energy applications. Typically working at 2kV, it told Electronics Weekly that the company is working on 3kV models too. The portfolio complements the low power products of Tektronix and Keithley, both Fortive subsidiaries. EA brings bi-directional, regenerative power, which saves electrical cost and the cost of drawing power, says Jonathan Tucker, power market segment leader at Tektronix. With the acquisition: “Tektronix has the potential to change things… in the next two decades,” he adds.
GaN gains
A standalone 100V half-bridge driver for GaN power hemts, the LT8418, was announced by Analog Devices.
See APEC 2024: Standalone 100V half-bridge driver for GaN (electronicsweekly.com)
Sustainable energy
A need to encourage more sustainable energy-efficient designs was also in evidence at Cambridge GaN Devices (CGD). It introduced a 350W PFC/LLC reference design with a high power density of 23W/in3. It has an average efficiency of 93%, and a no-load power consumption of 150mW.
The company also announced that its 650V, 55mΩ, H2 series ICeGaN technology has been used in the CrM totem pole PFC + half-bridge LLC power supply, which delivers 20V/ 17.5A output.
Clockwise from top: Silanna, Power Integrations, Rohm
There was also an update on the Neways Electronics partnership, using a 3kW photovoltaic inverter to boost the DC solar voltage to a stable DC link voltage. It uses CGD’s GaN hemt structure using a standard silicon controller from Analog Devices and achieves a maximum efficiency of 99.22% due to zero-current switching, says the company.
The company also announced design wins for ICeGaN, used by AGD Productions in its compact AGD DUET amplifier, which is rated at 300W 4Ω. It is the first time the company has used a 100% GaN power transistor design for both the power stage and the amplifier.
The GaNext project, a consortium of 13 partners, has specified ICeGaN for compact 1kW intelligent power modules featuring integrated drive, voltage control and protection circuits.
Another Cambridge company, Pulsiv, announced it is set to release a series of reference designs and assembled modules for USB-C applications that will deliver an average efficiency of more than 95%.
They have been developed in collaboration with the GaN company Innoscience and magnetics expert Frenetic.
See: Pulsiv USB-C tech claims 95% efficiency (electronicsweekly.com)
Designs will be released throughout 2024 to support a new class of sustainable USB-C chargers, adapters, and in-wall sockets. The first 65W solution was expected to be announced at the end of last month.
Making a splash
An interesting analogy for the power industry was put forward by Chip Brakeville, vice-president of sales and marketing at SemiQ. He described it as a well populated swimming pool that is divebombed by Elon Musk and electric vehicles. “EVs have brought power to the forefront of the industrial space,” he says. “This drives down process and brings innovation. Today’s power market is not just mosfets and diodes which have been around for 60 years, it’s exciting and interesting,” he enthuses.
Clockwise from top: Analog Devices, Danisense, Pulsiv
In addition to its full-bridge mosfet modules highlighted at the show the company revealed it will release a topside cooling, electrically isolated 62mm module, followed by high power mosfets; 1,700V devices are already in development and with alpha customers, although even higher voltage devices can be expected, confirms Brakeville.
See: APEC: 1,200V SiC mosfets in SOT-227 packaging (electronicsweekly.com)
In the second half of this year, the company plans a third fab, located in Taiwan.
Fresh from cutting the ribbon on its new facility, which has doubled capacity and warehouse space, Danisense came to APEC with a new current transducer for EV test benches and battery testing. The DN1000ID current transducer has a large aperture of 41.2mm to accommodate large cables to be fitted to EV test benches, allowing for quick changeover, says Loic Moreau, sales and marketing director at Danisense.
The large aperture overcomes the issue of power connectors fitted to the power cables that are bigger than the diameter of the cable. The DN1000ID is based on high stability closed loop fluxgate technology. It has a linearity of 1ppm, 5ppm offset and a compact aluminium housing. It “offers the best compromise between the 1,000A nominal current and aperture size by keeping the best measuring performances in accuracy and phase shift,” says Moreau.
He also highlights the DW closed-loop compensated zero-flux current transducer. It has extra-large bandwidth to accommodate power measurement for GaN and SiC-based converters. It measures up to 750A with accuracy of 10ppm linearity and low offset at 15ppm. The DW500UB-2V delivers up to 10MHz bandwidth. Operating temperature range is -45°C to +40°C, and it has low phase shift for high power measurement accuracy and an industry standard BNC connection.
APEC Power components
Automotive-qualified rectifiers were introduced by Taiwan Semiconductor. The TSD series rectifiers simultaneously provide repetitive peak reverse voltage of up to 400V/600V as well as ESD protection of >10,000V (per IEC-61000-4-2). They have optional current ratings of 1A, 2A and 3A and operating temperature ranges from -40°C to ±175°C. All have a maximum forward voltage drop of 1.1V and low-reverse leakage current.
They are suitable for industrial controls and communications systems, which rely on continuous operation, lighting and smoke detectors, bridge and general-purpose rectification circuits, LED strings and POE I/O protection as well as clamping, snubber networks and transient protection for datacomms systems, says the company.
Chip the robot dog was a neat demonstration by EPC of the GaN-based motor drives, used in its moving joints, GaN-based lidar for navigation and obstacle avoidance and GaN-based DC-DC conversion for the charging circuit for charging and longer run times between charges.
In addition to the EPC2361, which was introduced at the show (see: APEC: 1mΩ 100V GaN transistor has dual-side cooling (electronicsweekly.com), the company was also highlighting its GaN First Time Right initiative – online design support and advice for engineers investigating replacing existing converters with GaN alternatives.
