Power

There is a tremendous amount of innovation around solid-state batteries, but engineering challenges must still be overcome for them to represent a reliable and scalable technology, argues Mark Patrick. Solid-state batteries are creating a real sense of anticipation in industrial and automotive sectors. Their design characteristics could make them lighter, safer and stronger. With greater energy density than existing battery ...

Scaling compute, power and cooling to expand data centre capacity is a challenge. Mattias Jansson considers some options suited for the demands of the AI era. Applications such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are increasingly integrated into society, largely enabled by the exponential growth in computing power that is made possible by the latest generation of semiconductors ...

Alex Lidow and Marco Palma look at the value of high-frequency motor drives, their advantages and the capabilities of GaN technology, which make them suitable for today’s demanding applications. Modern, sophisticated applications, such as humanoid robots, require motor drives to deliver precise control over speed, torque and efficiency for electric motor applications. These systems have evolved significantly in recent decades ...

Mikroe has added a smart 85V 10A stepper motor driver to its range of interchangeable ‘Click’ boards. Called Power Step 2 Click, the board “is based on the powerSTEP01, a 1/128 microstepping controller from STMicroelectronics that integrates eight n-channel mosfets with ultra-low Rds(on)”, according to Mikroe. “It features a 5MHz SPI interface, multiple safety protections, and additional control pins for ...

Rohm has created three n-channel power mosfets in 5 x 6mm DFN packaging. RS7E200BG is a 30V mosfet optimised for both secondary-side ac-dc conversion and hot-swap controllers in 12V enterprise server power supplies. RS7N200BH is an 80V mosfet optimised for secondary ac-dc conversion in 48V server power supplies, as is RS7N160BH. “The DFN5060-8S package increases the internal die size area ...

Toshiba has announced a 1.2kWh 27.6Vdc li-ion battery module for electric buses, ships and boats. Called Type4-23 (also FM01202CCB04A), it is electrically similar to the company’s existing Type1-23 in that it is 2P12S (24 cells in two parallel 12 series arrangement) module, but the earlier versions resin baseplate has been replaced by aluminium to improve heat extraction. “When used with ...

Danfoss Power Solutions has launched a 250kVA 560Vac three-phase mains filter for heavy all-electric vehicles that are powered directly from the grid. “All components are rated for 300Arms. EC-LCL1200B-350 [is] a heavy-duty LCL electric filter specifically designed for off-highway applications,” according to the company. “Applications include drilling equipment, material handling equipment and tethered excavators.” It is suited to both 50 ...

Power mosfet and wafer-maker IceMos Technology has pulled-in $22m of series-E funding, including $7.5m from 57 Stars, and money from un-named “earlier stage USA investors” and a “London-based investor”, said IceMos Headquartered in Arizona, IceMos has manufacturing in Northern Ireland, research in Arizona and a design center in Tokyo. Its wafer products include active layers attached to handle wafers using ...

Mazda and Rohm have signed a deal to develop GaN-based automotive power electronics. “Compared to conventional silicon power semiconductors, GaN can reduce power conversion losses and contribute to the miniaturisation of components through high-frequency operation,” according to Rohm. “Both companies will collaborate to transform these strengths into a package that considers the entire vehicle, and into solutions that innovate in ...

Nexperia has introduced four 40V bi-directional GaN power transistors. With 5V gate drive, maximum on-resistance values of 1.2, 4.8, 8 or 12mΩ are available – see table below – and operation is up to 125°C. Packaging is VQFN16, WLCSP22, WLCSP16 or WLCSP12. They “support overvoltage protection, load switching and battery management systems in mobile devices and laptop computers”, according to ...