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GaN FETs Drive 150-Amp LiDAR Dev Board and Deliver 5-nsec. Pulses

November 30, 2017 by Paul Shepard

Efficient Power Conversion Corporation (EPC) announced the availability of the EPC9126HCa 100V, 150A high current pulsed laser diode driver evaluation board. In a LiDAR system, used to create 3-D maps for autonomous vehicle applications, speed and accuracy of object detection is critical.

As demonstrated by this board, the rapid transition capability of eGaN FETs provide power pulses to drive the laser up to ten times faster than an equivalent MOSFET, thus enhancing the overall performance of a LiDAR system.

The EPC9126HC development board is primarily intended to drive laser diodes and features an EPC2001C ground-referenced eGaN FET driven by a Texas Instruments UCC27611 gate driver. The EPC2001C is a 100V maximum voltage device capable of current pulses up to 150A. The EPC9126HC can drive 75A pulses into a high power triple junction laser diode with a pulse width as low as 5ns.

EPC9126HC

The board includes multiple ultra-low inductance connection options for mounting laser diodes and can drive these via a discharging a capacitor (as shipped) or directly from a power bus. The board does not include a laser diode, which must be supplied by the user to evaluate specific applications.

The printed circuit board is designed to minimize the power loop inductance while maintaining mounting flexibility for the laser diode. It includes multiple on-board passive probes for voltages and discharge capacitor current measurement, and comes equipped with SMA connections for input and sensing designed for 50Ω measurement systems. In addition, the user can enable an optional precision narrow pulse generator.

Finally, the board can also be used for other applications requiring a ground-referenced eGaN FET, for example in Class E or similar circuits.

The EPC9126HC 150A high current pulsed laser diode driver evaluation board is priced at $231.25 and is available from Digi-Key.