everything PE recently interviewed Leon Gross, Corporate Vice President of Microchip Technology Discrete Products Group. Microchip Technology designs and manufactures semiconductor products, including integrated circuits (ICs), microcontrollers, and other electronic components.
Q. Tell us more about Microchip Technology?
Leon Gross: Microchip Technology is a leading supplier of smart, connected, secure embedded control and processing solutions. Our broad portfolio of products includes MCUs, MPUs, FPGAs, power management, analog, mixed-signal, timing solutions, security products, wired and wireless connectivity products and related non-volatile memory and Flash IP solutions. We’re focused on delivering comprehensive system solutions for our customers.
Q. Microchip has a broad range of power management solutions. Tell us more about the company’s power products.
Leon Gross: At Microchip, we offer our customers many power management solutions from dsPIC Digital Signal Controllers (DSCs) to Silicon Carbide mSiC solutions and everything in between including analog devices, Hybrid Power Drive (HPD) modules in Silicon (Si) and Silicon Carbide (SiC) and space-grade radiation-tolerant and radiation-hardened power converters. Microchip also offers GaN-on-SiC power amplifiers that operate at high frequencies in Ka- and Ku-band from 12 GHz to 40 GHz for satellite communication.
What sets Microchip apart is the ability for customers to “Pick Your Power” by offering standard products, modified and custom solutions tailored to the requirements of the end application.
Q. Wide-bandgap (WBG) technology like silicon carbide (SiC) is gaining traction in many markets. What SiC solutions does Microchip offer?
Leon Gross: We have over 20 years of experience in the development, design, manufacturing, and support of SiC devices and power solutions and help our customers adopt SiC with ease, speed, and confidence. Our mSiC products are designed to provide lower system cost, faster time to market, and lower risk. Our SiC portfolio includes mSiC MOSFETs, diodes, bare die, modules, and gate drivers with standard and custom options.
Microchip Silicon Carbide Portfolio
Q. Microchip has over 60 years of space heritage from Apollo 11 to the Artemis missions. What power management devices are critical to support traditional space and the emerging New Space orbits?
Leon Gross: With a focus on power management, we supply electromechanical relays and custom power supplies. The off-the-shelf radiation-tolerant LE50-28 series are isolated DC-DC converters with 50 W power converters available in nine variants with single- and triple-outputs that range from 3.3 V to 28 V. The current market contains commercial power converters that are not radiation tolerant, which pose a great risk to the satellite mission life, and expensive radiation-hardened power converters. The LE50 fills the gap between these two by offering a cost-effective radiation-tolerant solution for satellite missions. The LE50 series offers cost efficiency, small footprints, and configurability for faster time to market. The ability to modify the units using standard components with printed circuit card construction to meet exact power system requirements.Microchip Technology Space Products Portfolio
Microchip has the unique capability of providing most of the building blocks required for space system architecture including but not limited to power converters, LDOs, voltage regulators, and point of loads that are used to power FPGAs designed systems, motor controller applications, and other systems. Microchip’s innovative solutions for space include FPGAs, microcontrollers, microprocessors, power and discrete devices, memory products, communication interfaces, and oscillators.
Q. How has the electrification of everything impacted the power electronics industry?
Leon Gross: Emission reduction, energy efficiency, higher power density, high reliability, and ease of use drive the electrification of everything. Power electronics is at the core of many sustainable applications that are shaping our future such as Electric Vehicles (EVs), More Electric Aircrafts (MEA), electric trains, hydrogen ecosystems, renewables, and energy storage. Wide-bandgap semiconductors like SiC will enable an omnidirectional power flow—providing power to everyone, anywhere at any time—this capability is critical to improve the energy life cycle, maximize efficiency, and reduce energy losses.
Microchip Technology XIFM plug-and-play mSiC gate driver
Q. What other resources and support does Microchip provide?
Leon Gross: Microchip has a variety of selection tools, reference designs, reference codes, code generators, digital compilers, and simulation tools to help designers in the development phase through implementation. To further support customers, we offer a design check service where a team member will provide guidance on design topics from board layouts or circuit approaches. The amount of effort required to support design assistance can be overlooked but this level of client service is a key factor of what differentiates Microchip from other suppliers.
About Leon Gross
Leon Gross is the corporate vice president of Microchip Technology’s discrete products group. With over 35 years in the semiconductor industry, Leon has held various manufacturing, engineering, and business roles. Leon came to Microchip from the company’s acquisition of Microsemi and previously worked for Motorola and onsemi. Before entering the semiconductor industry, Leon served in the United States Air Force. Leon earned a Bachelor of Applied Science from Arizona State University and an MBA from Grand Canyon University.
