The laser driver uses 5V supply voltage and is controlled using 3.3V logic. It is capable of frequencies greater than 50 MHz and super short pulses down to 2ns to modulate laser driving currents up to 15A. Voltage switching time is less than 1ns and delay time from input to output is less than 3.6ns.

The single chip driver plus GaN FET based on EPC’s proprietary GaN IC technology in a chip-scale BGA form factor that measures 1.7 x 1.0 x 0.68mm. The wafer level packaging is characterised by low inductance and the level of integration means that the overall solution is 36% smaller on the PCB compared to an equivalent multi-chip discrete implementation.

The EPC21701 complements the ToF driver IC family in CSP (chip-scale package) that also includes the 40V, 15A EPC21601 and the 40V, 10A EPC21603.

This family of products will enable faster adoption and increased ubiquity of ToF solutions across a wider array of end-user applications, believes EPC. They dramatically improve the performance while reducing size and cost for time-of-flight lidar systems, said Alex Lidow, CEO, and co-founder of EPC. “Integrating a GaN FET with driver on one chip generates an extremely powerful and fast IC and reduces size and cost for wider adoption in consumer and industrial applications,” he added.  The company also plans to extend the family soon to 100V and 125A models.

A development board is also available. The EPC9172 features the EPC21701 eToF laser driver IC and is primarily intended to drive laser diodes with short, high current pulses. Capabilities include minimum pulse widths of <2 ns, 15A peak currents and bus voltage rating of 40V.

The EPC21701 and EPC9172 are available for immediate delivery from Digi-Key.

Designers interested in replacing their silicon MOSFETs with a GaN solution can visit the EPC website to access the EPC GaN Power Bench’s cross-reference tool to find a suggested replacement based on a project’s specific operating conditions.