Ralf’s GaN & SiC News (December 12, 2024)
Welcome to the latest edition of my newsletter on silicon carbide, gallium nitride, and other wide-bandgap semiconductor materials. If you want to get covered, please reach out to me via [email protected].
Most probably, this is the last edition for 2024. I hope you will have a great time with family and friends until early January 2025.
Content
Silicon Carbide News
onsemi to acquire SiC JFET business and United Silicon Carbide subsidiary from Qorvo
安森美半导体 has agreed to acquire the SiC JFET technology business, including the United Silicon Carbide ( Qorvo Power ) subsidiary, from Qorvo, Inc. for $115 million in cash. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of 2025.
The acquisition will enable the company to address the need for high energy efficiency and power density in the AC-DC stage in power supply units for AI data centers. Additionally, the move will accelerate onsemi’s readiness for emerging markets such as EV battery disconnects and solid-state circuit breakers (SSCBs).
SiC JFETs offer the lowest on-resistance per chip area, using less than half of any other technology. They also allow using typical off-the-shelf drivers, deployed with silicon-based transistors for decades. Together, these benefits result in faster development, reduced energy consumption, and lower system costs, providing significant value to power supply designers and data center operators.
“As AI workloads become more complex and energy-intensive, the importance of reliable SiC JFETs that deliver high energy efficiency and can handle high voltages will continue to increase. With the addition of Qorvo’s industry-leading SiC JFET technology, our intelligent power portfolio offers our customers yet another solution to optimize energy consumption and increase power density,” said Simon Keeton , group president and general manager of the Power Solutions Group, onsemi.
Oxide Power Crystals presents solution process to grow SiC crystals
At Semicon Japan, Oxide Power Crystals exhibited samples of 150-mm (6-inch) p-type SiC single crystal wafers produced using the solution method, an alternative approach to the conventional sublimation process.
In this case, silicon (Si) is placed in a carbon (C) crucible, and heated to melt it. Then, the carbon in the crucible material dissolves in the silicon solvent to create the SiC solute. The SiC solute is then deposited on a SiC seed crystal to grow a SiC single crystal. Compared to the conventional sublimation method, this method is capable of growing high-quality single crystals with fewer defects in principle.
Oxide Power Crystal was selected for the “Research and Development Item 2: Wafer Technology Development for Next-Generation Power Semiconductors” of the “Green Innovation Fund Project / Construction of Next-Generation Digital Infrastructure” publicly solicited by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) .
Up to $50 million of U.S. grants for X-Fab Texas
The Biden-Harris Administration’s proposed investment of up to $50 million would support the expansion and modernization of X-FAB ’s SiC foundry facility. The proposed terms provide support for workforce development efforts including X-Fab’s current partnerships with Texas Tech University - Edward E. Whitacre, Jr. College of Engineering , South Plains College , Western Technical College , Lubbock Area United Way , SEMI Foundation , and the Lubbock Economic Development Alliance . The proposed CHIPS investment would create an estimated 150 jobs.
Accelerated localization in China’s semiconductor industry
The localization of the semiconductor industry in China is a long-term strategic goal. In recent years, the localization rate across the semiconductor supply chain has gradually increased. However, the current volatile domestic and international environment has further spurred the rapid advancement of China’s semiconductor industry.
TrendForce Corporation reports that in the SiC sector, manufacturers across the entire supply chain in China — from materials (substrates/epitaxy) to chips/modules and equipment — are entering the 200-mm (8-inch) SiC market. According to incomplete statistics by DRAMeXchange - DRAM and NAND Flash Research , more than 100 Chinese companies have ventured into the SiC field in the past two years, with over 50 SiC projects expected to make significant progress in 2024.
Currently, China has established two major 200-mm SiC wafer production lines. UNT built the first 200-mm SiC MOSFET wafer production line in Shaoxing Yuecheng, while 杭州士兰微电子股份有限公司 officially launched the country’s first 200-mm SiC power device chip manufacturing project on June 18, with a total investment of RMB 12 billion (USD 1.6. billion).
Mersen delays financial targets by two years due to weak materials demand for EVs
Mersen pushed back its financial targets until 2029 due to a temporary slowdown in the EV and SiC semiconductor markets. Many chipmakers exposed to silicon carbide, a more efficient semiconductor material used to increase the range of EVs, have recently cut or delayed their financial targets.
The French materials supplier expects to reach sales of around 1.7 billion euros ($1.8 billion) and an operating margin before non-recurring items of around 12% two years later than originally planned, it said ahead of its capital markets day.
"2025 will be a year of transition for Mersen due to a temporary slowdown in the electric vehicle and SiC semiconductor markets, which has led us to push back our previously communicated medium-term targets by two years. Nevertheless, we remain very confident about medium- and long-term trends that will enable Mersen to continue its growth trajectory," said Mersen CEO Luc Themelin in a statement.
Brazil funds Ceitec with USD 58 million for SiC manufacturing
Brazil’s government is investing BRL 220 million (USD 58 million) in CEITEC S.A , a state-owned semiconductor company under the control of the Science and Technology Ministry. This was announced by Minister Luciana Santos. The funds will be distributed over three years to develop a new line of SiC chips and come from the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FNDCT), via the Financier of Studies and Projects (FINEP).
Overview of high-power electronic applications enabled by medium voltage SiC technology
With the electrification of society and the green transition, the need for efficient high-power electronic converters to support the electricity demand is at an all-time high. A key enabler is the emerging medium voltage (MV) SiC semiconductor devices, which offer improved static and dynamic performance compared to their silicon counterparts.
This article from researchers at AAU Energy and Stony Brook University presents a thorough overview of the recent advancements within the MV SiC technology, examining both available semiconductor devices and power modules from industry and academia and directly associating them to their applicability through a comprehensive review of typical high-power electronic applications. At last, the future perspectives on the applicability and commercial widespread of the MV SiC technology are presented.
Morten Rahr Nielsen , Shiyue Deng , Abdul Basit Mirza , Benjamin Futtrup Kj?rsgaard , Asger Bj?rn J?rgensen , Hongbo Zhao , Yang Li, Stig Munk Nielsen , and Fang Luo , "High-Power Electronic Applications Enabled by Medium Voltage Silicon-Carbide Technology: An Overview," in IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 987-1011, Jan. 2025, doi: 10.1109/TPEL.2024.3442483.
Advances in defect characterization techniques using polarized light observation in SiC wafers
Various defects such as threading screw dislocations (TSD), threading edge dislocations (TED), and basal plane dislocations (BPD) can significantly affect SiC device performance and reliability. Polarized light observation offers a non-destructive method for visualizing these defects and analyzing the stress fields induced within the SiC crystal structure.
This paper from researchers at 名古屋大学 (Nagoya University) and Mipox Corporation summarizes recent developments in this technique, including the application of analyzer rotation to enhance the contrast in defect visualization. Furthermore, the development of automated systems for rapid wafer evaluation is discussed, highlighting the role of polarized light observation in improving quality control and production efficiency in SiC power device manufacturing.
Shunta Harada, Kenta Murayama, Advances in defect characterization techniques using polarized light observation in SiC wafers for power devices, Journal of Crystal Growth, Volume 650, 2025, 127982, ISSN 0022-0248, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2024.127982.
Gallium Nitride News
ROHM and TSMC to collaborate on GaN technology for automotive
ROHM Co., Ltd. and 台积公司 have entered a strategic partnership on the development and volume production of GaN power devices for electric vehicle applications. The partnership will integrate ROHM's device development technology with TSMC's GaN-on-silicon process technology to meet the growing demand for superior high-voltage and high-frequency properties over silicon for power devices.
The partnership builds on ROHM and TSMC’s history of collaboration in GaN power devices. In 2023, ROHM adopted TSMC’s 650V GaN HEMT, whose process is increasingly being used in consumer and industrial devices as part of ROHM's EcoGaN series.
$9.5 million U.S. federal funding for GlobalFoundries for GaN manufacturing
GlobalFoundries (GF) has received an additional $9.5 million in federal funding from the U.S. government to advance the manufacturing of GF’s essential GaN on silicon semiconductors at its facility in Essex Junction, Vermont. The funding moves GF closer to large-scale production of GaN chips.
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With the award, GF will continue to add new tools, equipment, and prototyping capabilities to its GaN IP portfolio and reliability testing as the company moves closer to full-scale manufacturing of its 200-mm GaN chips in Vermont. GF is committed to creating a fast and efficient path for customers to realize new innovative designs and products that leverage the unique efficiency and power management benefits of GaN chip technology.
In total, including the new award, GF has received more than $80 million since 2020 from the U.S. government to support research, development, and advancements to pave the way to full-scale GaN chip manufacturing.
Monolithically integrated GaN power stage for 200 W
At this year’s International Solid-State-Circuits Conference [ISSCC] , a team of developers led by Professor Bernhard Wicht of Leibniz Universit?t Hannover presented a fully integrated power stage in GaN. The monolithically integrated half-bridge operates from 500 V and achieves switching frequencies of 6.25 MHz. The group demonstrates the record circuit in a totem pole converter with power factor correction (PFC).
He and his students have set themselves the goal of developing a power supply unit for the 200 W power class based on GaN. This would enable the power supplies used to date to be significantly smaller on the one hand and to achieve higher efficiency on the other.
VisIC Technologies and AVL achieve over 99.6% efficiency in GaN inverters for EVs
VisIC Technologies Ltd. and 奥地利AVL李斯特公司 announced a new partnership aimed at advancing high-efficiency GaN inverter technology for the EV market. This collaboration will provide automotive OEMs with power semiconductors that exceed SiC performance while offering lower costs at the device and system level.
In a recent test conducted at AVL’s facilities, an inverter based on VisIC’s D3GaN components achieved an efficiency level of 99.67% at 10kHz, stunningly climbing to over 99.8% efficiency at 5kHz — which outperforms comparable SiC inverters by up to 0.5% and is cutting energy losses by more than 60%.
This breakthrough positions the AVL and VisIC partnership as a compelling option for automakers striving to balance high efficiency with affordability in EV design. It is worth noting that VisIC’s GaN-on-Si power devices require significantly less energy and therefore CO? during chip manufacturing compared to SiC. They can be produced in widespread 200-mm and 300-mm silicon foundries, which makes scaling production a straightforward process.
Podcast with Alex Lidow: GaN applications and reliability from ground to space
EPC - Efficient Power Conversion ’s GaN products have transformed the industry since Spirit first partnered with EPC on franchised distribution 6 years ago. Alex Lidow has now returned to the Spirit Electronics podcast to talk with Marti McCurdy about GaN’s growth in space, automotive, and AI. With space flight heritage and active products in all orbits from LEO to GEO to Mars, GaN has superior radiation resilience for satellites, data gathering, and exploration.
Performance optimization of GaN-based optically triggered transistors
At IEDM Conference 2024, Rafid Hassan Palash from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology will present key advancements in the design strategies of GaN-based optically triggered (OT) transistors. This research focuses on improving response time, ON current, and ON/OFF ratio, while effectively mitigating persistent photocurrent. By optimizing device parameters and integrating a back-barrier in lateral OT-HEMT, the researchers achieved a responsivity of 4×10? A/W and an 8× reduction in response time. For vertical architectures, they reached record performance with an ON/OFF ratio of ~10? and an ON-current density of 460 A/cm2, achieved by fine-tuning the fin angle, width, and gate bias.
Rafid Hassan Palash , Toiyob Hossain , Bejoy Sikder , Qingyun Xie , Victor Moroz , Tomas Palacios , Nadim Chowdhury , Performance Optimization of GaN based Optically Triggered Transistors, IEDM 2024, Session 32-7
EPC releases reference design for high-efficiency solar optimizers
EPC - Efficient Power Conversion announces the launch of the EPC9178, the latest reference design for photovoltaic (PV) optimizers. Designed to deliver high reliability while addressing critical challenges in energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness through the reduction of passive components in solar energy systems, the EPC9178 demonstrates the transformative potential of GaN technology for renewable energy solutions.
The EPC9178 reference design employs a back-to-back buck-boost converter topology, ensuring optimal energy harvesting for each solar panel, even under challenging conditions such as shading. This compact, high-performance solution bridges the gap between micro-inverters and string inverters, offering enhanced energy efficiency and compatibility with existing infrastructure.
Study of 1500 V AlGaN/GaN HEMT grown on engineered substrates
In this study, a team of researchers at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University , 中兴大学 (National Chung Hsing University), 中山大学 (National Sun Yat-sen University), and Hon Hai Research Institute demonstrate the breakdown voltage at 1500 V of GaN on a QST power device. The high breakdown voltage and low current collapse performance can be attributed to the higher quality of GaN buffer layers grown on QST substrates from Qromis, Inc. This is primarily due to the matched coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) with GaN and enhanced mechanical strength.
Based on computer-aided design (TCAD) simulations, the strong electric-field-induced trap-assisted thermionic field emissions (TA-TFEs) in the GaN on QST could be eliminated in the GaN buffer. This demonstration showed the potential of GaN on QST and promises well-controlled performance and reliability under high-power operation conditions.
Liu, A.-C.; Chen, P.-T.; Chuang, C.-H.; Chen, Y.-C.; Chen, Y.-L.; Chen, H.-C.; Chang, S.-T.; Huang, I.-Y.; Kuo, H.-C. "Study of 1500 V AlGaN/GaN High-Electron-Mobility Transistors Grown on Engineered Substrates". Electronics 2024, 13, 2143. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics13112143
Miscellaneous News
Panel discussion: Advancements and challenges in SiC and GaN
In this article, Sonu Daryanani summarizes a panel discussion conducted by industry experts representing some of the leading manufacturers of these devices. The discussion took place at electronicaFair 2024 and focused on the current state of these devices, key present and future applications, and some of the main challenges seen in the future growth of these technologies.
The panel was moderated by Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio , Editor-in-Chief, of Power Electronics News and embedded.com , and included the following experts:
HiEFFICIENT publishes evaluation report
HiEFFICIENT has published a project booklet, a comprehensive showcase of all the incredible results achieved during the project duration. The ChipsJU project focused on enhancing the power density and reliability of WBG semiconductor-based power electronic solutions for automotive applications, including electrified vehicles and associated charging infrastructure. In this booklet, you will find all the results achieved during the project.
Job Exchange
EPC: Global FAE Manager
As Global FAE Manager at EPC - Efficient Power Conversion , you will serve as a key technical liaison between Field Application Engineers (FAEs), internal applications engineering, R&D team, and field sales team. You will provide technical direction, mentorship, and support to FAEs worldwide to drive design wins, enhance customer relationships, and support the growth of our power management technology solutions.
University of Warwick: PhD scholarship on SiC power electronic devices
This PhD studentship at the 英国华威大学 is available to work on SiC-related projects within REWIRE, beginning April 2025, October 2025, or January 2026. The PhD topics could include any aspect of SiC power device fabrication, TCAD simulation, or device reliability for power devices rated from 1200-15,000 V. Depending on the applicant and the topic undertaken, efforts will be made to obtain a co-sponsor from the cohort of REWIRE-IKC industrial partners
The scholarship will cover the tuition fees at the UK rate of ￡4,786, plus a tax-free stipend of ￡19,237 per annum for 3.5 years of full-time study. Non-UK students can apply but must personally fund the difference between the UK (Home) and overseas rates.
Have you had a chance to talk to Atomera about their tech on GaN?
Assistant Professor at AAU Energy | Semiconductors for sustainable energy
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