First space-grade 200V GaN FET gate driver
Texas Instruments (TI) has launched a family of radiation-hardened and radiation-tolerant half-bridge gate drivers for 200V gallium nitride (GaN) field-effect transistors (FET), including a first for the space industry.
The TPS7H6xxx family provides gate drives voltages from 22V to 200V and supports different radiation levels to improve the power efficiency of every type of space mission
The devices are available in pin-to-pin compatible ceramic and plastic packaging options and support three voltage levels. This helps engineers design satellite power systems for all types of space missions using just one chip supplier, including the first space qualified 200V gate drive in the industry.
GaN FETs are increasingly popular for satellite and space designs as the ability to operate at higher frequencies allows smaller magnetics, reducing the weight and size os power systems. The higher efficiency, over 99%, also reduces the size and weight of the thermal management systems where these are critical parameters for system designers.
The gate drivers are designed to accurately drive GaN FETs with fast rise and fall times for those higher frequency designs, particularly for the power management from solar cells on the space craft. The 200V GaN FET gate driver is suitable for propulsion systems and input power conversion in solar panels while the 60V and 22V versions are intended for power distribution and conversion across the satellite.
- First Class L GaN DC-DC converter for space
- Project evaluates GaN in space
- Power management with voltage monitoring for space AI
The radiation-hardened TPS7H5001-SP (100 krad TID, 75 MeV⋅cm2/mg) and radiation-tolerant TPS7H5005-SEP (rad-tolerant 30 to 50 krad TID, 43 MeV⋅cm2/mg) controller families enable the use of a common power architecture for many of the circuits in an electrical power system across a number of different missions and diverse orbits.
TI has developed reference designs use space-grade PWM controllers in various power-supply circuits across the satellite, not only in the power system but also on select payload boards.
This includes an isolated flyback design using a 100W isolated synchronous flyback topology that supports an input of 22 V to 36 V with an output of 5 V and uses GaN FETs in the power stage. This design is optimized for power-supply topologies that require only a single output.
A non-isolated high-current dual-phase buck design uses the TPS7H5001-SP gate driver in a single-phase synchronous buck topology supporting an input of 11 V to 14 V with an output of 1 V and uses GaN FETs in the power stage. The design is capable of supporting 20 A and maintains tight DC and AC tolerance.
A 200W non-isolated high-voltage buck design supports an input of 50 V to 150 V with an output of 28 V. This is optimised for regulating the highly variable output of 100V solar panels before the satellite passes the power to the battery storage portion of the power subsystem.
“Satellites perform critical missions, from providing global internet coverage to monitoring climate and shipping activity, enabling humans to better understand and navigate the world,” said Javier Valle, product line manager, Space Power Products at TI. “Our new portfolio enables satellites in low, medium and geosynchronous earth orbits to operate in the harsh environment of space for an extended period of time, all while maintaining high levels of power efficiency.”
The GaN FET gate drivers have packaging options for the three voltage levels qualified for space designs, including Radiation-hardened; Qualified Manufacturers List (QML) Class P and QML Class V in plastic and ceramic packages. There are also Radiation-tolerant Space Enhanced Plastic (SEP) products.
Production quantities of the TPS7H6003-SP, TPS7H6013-SP, TPS7H6023-SP and TPS7H6005-SEP GaN gate drivers are available now.
Preproduction quantities of the TPS7H6015-SEP and TPS7H6025-SEP are also available, with the TPS7H6005-SP, TPS7H6015-SP and TPS7H6025-SP available for purchase by June 2025.
Evaluation modules for all nine devices, as well as reference designs and simulation models are also available.
|
|
Plastic |
Ceramic |
|
|
Voltage |
Radiation-tolerant |
Radiation-hardened |
Radiation-hardened |
|
200V |
TPS7H6005-SP |
||
|
60V |
TPS7H6015-SP |
||
|
22V |
TPS7H6025-SP |
||
If you enjoyed this article, you will like the following ones: don't miss them by subscribing to :
