Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) CEO, Alex Lidow and Editor-in-chief, Planet Analog and Senior Technical Editor, EDN Analog and Power, Steve Taranovich
EPC CEO Meets With Editor-in-chief to Discuss Power of GaN as a Displacement Technology
IEEE IAS Education Webinar Series: “Moore’s Law is Alive with GaN”
Presented by Dr. Alex Lidow, CEO and co-founder of Efficient Power Conversion (EPC)
Moore’s Law is Alive with GaN
Efficient Power Conversion Corporation
The performance of GaN transistors and integrated circuits is climbing up the learning curve in a way reminiscent of Moore’s Law in the go-go years of silicon. In this industry presentation we will show the significant improvements in performance enabled by a new generation of GaN technology in 48 V – 1 V single-stage conversion, wireless charging efficiency, and LiDAR system speed.
Author/Presenter
Alex Lidow is CEO of Efficient Power Conversion Corporation (EPC). Prior to founding EPC, Dr. Lidow was CEO of International Rectifier Corporation. A co-inventor of the HEXFET power MOSFET, Dr. Lidow holds many patents in power semiconductor technology and has authored numerous publications on related subjects. He most recently co-authored, GaN Transistors for Efficient Power Conversion, the first textbook on GaN FET technology and applications. Lidow earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Caltech in 1975 and his Ph.D. from Stanford in 1977.
GaN is Eyeing Silicon’s Data Center Lunch
A company that has been a major force behind GaN chips in the power conversion market is El Segundo, California-based Efficient Power Conversion. One of EPC’s two founders is Alex Lidow, who is probably GaN’s most prominent and enthusiastic evangelist. In the semiconductor business for 40 years, he was one of the inventors behind the power MOSFET, a silicon transistor widely used for power switching in servers and many other types of electronics. Now he’s advocating for GaN transistors to push those silicon MOSFETs out.
“Gallium nitride is blazingly fast, 100 or maybe even 1000 times faster than silicon in a LiDAR application,” Alex Lidow, CEO and founder of EPC
Velodyne will continue to sell spinning “puck”-style LiDAR units for automated vehicles developed for on-demand ride services, though the new non-spinning solid-state chip, developed with Los Angeles-based Efficient Power Corp., or EPC, is designed to be integrated into the exterior of vehicles for retail car buyers, Jellen said. The new chips are tiny, just 4 square millimeters, yet highly efficient owing to a new monolithic gallium nitride integrated circuit developed with EPC.
Podcast: Bloomberg Radio Interview with Alex Lidow at CES 2017
EPC CEO and Co-Founder, Alex Lidow, discusses the life changing applications on display at CES with Bloomberg Radio. Applications such as LiDAR for autonomous cars with the potential to disrupt the transportation industry and wireless power with the potential to eliminate power cords are highlighted as well as how GaN enables these new technologies.
Listen to Interview:
