Trade’s first space-grade 200V GaN FET gate driver from TI helps satellites turn into smaller and extra environment friendly

Starting from 22V to 200V and supporting completely different radiation ranges, TI’s new household of gate drivers permits designers to enhance energy system effectivity for each sort of area mission

What’s new

Nationwide, 20 February 2025: Texas Devices (TI) at the moment introduced a brand new household of radiation-hardened and radiation-tolerant half-bridge gallium nitride (GaN) field-effect transistor (FET) gate drivers. This household of gate drivers contains the business’s first space-grade GaN FET driver that helps as much as 200V operation. The gadgets can be found in pin-to-pin appropriate ceramic and plastic packaging choices and assist three voltage ranges. TI’s developments in space-grade energy merchandise allow engineers to design satellite tv for pc energy programs for every type of area missions utilizing only one chip provider.

Why it issues

Satellite tv for pc programs are rising more and more advanced to satisfy the demand for extra on-orbit processing and knowledge transmission, higher-resolution imaging, and extra exact sensing. To enhance mission capabilities, engineers try to maximise electrical energy system effectivity. TI’s new gate drivers are designed to precisely drive GaN FETs with quick rise and fall occasions, bettering power-supply measurement and density. This enables a satellite tv for pc to extra successfully use the facility generated by its photo voltaic cells to carry out mission features.

“Satellites carry out essential missions, from offering international web protection to monitoring local weather and delivery exercise, enabling people to higher perceive and navigate the world,” mentioned Javier Valle, product line supervisor, Area Energy Merchandise at TI. “Our new portfolio permits satellites in low, medium and geosynchronous earth orbits to function within the harsh surroundings of area for an prolonged time period, all whereas sustaining excessive ranges of energy effectivity.”

For extra info, learn the technical article, “How one can optimize SWaP for next-generation satellites with digital energy programs.”

Extra particulars

Optimizing measurement, weight and energy (SWaP) utilizing GaN know-how can:

• Enhance electrical system efficiency.
• Lengthen mission lifetimes.
• Scale back satellite tv for pc mass and quantity.
• Decrease thermal administration overload.

Designers can use the household for functions spanning all the electrical energy system.

• The 200V GaN FET gate driver is appropriate for propulsion programs and enter energy conversion in photo voltaic panels.
• The 60V and 22V variations are supposed for energy distribution and conversion throughout the satellite tv for pc.

TI’s household of space-grade GaN FET gate drivers affords completely different space-qualified packaging choices for the three voltage ranges, together with:

• Radiation-hardened; Certified Producers Record (QML) Class P and QML Class V in plastic and ceramic packages, respectively.
• Radiation-tolerant Area Enhanced Plastic (SEP) merchandise.

John Dorosa, a TI programs engineer, will current “Tips on how to simply convert a hard-switched full bridge to a zero-voltage-switched full bridge” on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, at 9:20 a.m. Jap time on the Utilized Energy Electronics Convention in Atlanta, Georgia. This business session will function TI’s TPS7H6003-SP gate driver.