GaN power transistor make EPC has released a detailed reliability report on its devices, providing it free.

It is the ‘Phase eleven reliability report’.

“Testing devices to the point of failure creates an understanding of the amount of margin between data sheet limits and products in application,” according to EPC.

Intrinsic failure mechanisms of devices are identified allowing the root cause of failures to be identified.

Knowledge of the behaviour of a device over time, temperature, electrical or mechanical stress can provide users with a representation of the safe operating life over a more general set of operating conditions.

There are seven sections:

• Intrinsic failure mechanisms impacting the gate electrode of eGaN-branded devices
• Intrinsic mechanisms underlying dynamic Rds(on)
• Safe operating area (SOA)
• Testing devices to destruction under short-circuit
• Custom test to assess reliability over long-term lidar pulse stress
• Mechanical force stress testing
• Field reliability

“eGaN devices have been in volume production for over ten years and have demonstrated very high reliability in both laboratory testing and high-volume customer applications,” said EPC CEO Alex Lidow. “The release of EPC’s 11th reliability report represents the cumulative experience of millions of devices over a ten-year period and five generations of technology. Results show that GaN is a robust technology that continues to improve.”

Applications foreseen for these devices include autonomous vehicle lidar, LTE base stations, vehicle headlamps and satellites.