Ralf’s GaN & SiC News (June 23, 2023)
Welcome to the latest edition of my newsletter on #siliconcarbide and #galliumnitride. If you want to contribute to it, please approach me at [email protected]
Airbus and 意法半导体 to cooperate on power electronics research and development to support more efficient and lighter power electronics, essential for future hybrid-powered aircraft and full-electric urban air vehicles.
The collaboration builds on evaluations already conducted by both companies to explore the benefits of wide bandgap semiconductor materials for aircraft electrification. The co-operation will focus on developing SiC and GaN devices, packages, and modules adapted for Airbus’ aerospace applications. The companies will assess these components by conducting advanced research and tests on demonstrators, such as e-motor control units, high and low voltage power converters, and wireless power transfer systems.
“This collaboration with STMicroelectronics will be key to support Airbus’ electrification roadmap. Leveraging their expertise and experience in power electronics for automotive and industrial applications with our own record in aircraft and VTOL electrification will help us accelerate the development of the disruptive technologies required for the ZEROe roadmap and CityAirbus NextGen”, Sabine Klauke , Airbus Chief Technical Officer.
Silicon Carbide News
A team of scientists from GE全球研发中心 have set a new record, demonstrating SiC MOSFETs that can tolerate temperatures exceeding 800 °C. This at least 200 K higher than previously known. Such devices could support the development of more robust sensing, actuation and controls that open new possibilities in space exploration and enable the control and monitoring of hypersonic vehicles traveling at speeds of Mach 5. That is more than six times the speed that a typical commercial passenger flight travels today.
NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration has demonstrated SiC JFETs that have tolerated well beyond the 800 °C threshold. For a long time, the conventional wisdom has been that SiC MOSFETs cannot offer the same degrees of reliability and durability as JFETs at high temperatures. New advancements with the gate oxides in SiC MOSFETS, which have previously been temperature and lifetime limiters, have narrowed the gap considerably.
“Achieving the high temperature threshold with SiC MOSFETs could open a whole new aperture of sensing, actuation and control applications for space exploration and hypersonic vehicles” says Emad Andarawis , Principal Engineer in Microelectronics at GE Research.
Infineon has posted a video with Peter Friedrichs and Anna Haft explaining the proprietary #ColdSplit technology. With this process, Infineon is able to produce more than twice as many epi-ready SiC wafers from a given boule. ColdSplit is now at the point to be introduced mass manufacturing.
Thank for sharing, Torsten Herrich
The recent partnership between 意法半导体 and China-based 三安光电股份有限公司 is the latest case showing the European automotive supply chain is striving to gain a presence for its SiC devices in China. In May, 英飞凌 signed a SiC agreement with China-based SICC and TankeBlue Semiconductor. Leading tier-1 supplier Bosch also secured a similar partnership with SICC.
Sources said to DIGITIMES Asia these collaborations probably have been fostered for a while. They are revealed at this point likely because China is actively luring foreign investment after lifting COVID restrictions. It might also mean the companies highly anticipate China's SiC technology and market development, so they have to secure a place in the market.
Bosch has been developing its SiC devices early on and working with Chinese companies. The partnership aims to secure critical components supply and help Bosch localize in the country.
ST and Sanan's connection can be dated back to 2019 when ST purchased shares of Sweden-based SiC chip company Norstel AB from Sanan. The Chinese company was facing a financial crisis, so it sold Norstel the second year after getting the ownership.
Sources said Sanan has since developed its SiC technology and earned recognition from the market. It has gained traction in industrial and automotive SiCs, including its SiC MOSFET being adopted by the automotive supply chain in China.
In #Podcasts4Engineers at Spotify , host Fabian Schiffer seeks out some of Infineon’s greatest technical minds to discuss the biggest challenges and opportunities engineers face today and what the team at 英飞凌 is doing to address them.
Already five podcasts regarding silicon carbide are available:
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Vitesco Technologies has secured strategically important capacities in energy-efficient silicon carbide power semiconductors through a long-term supply partnership with ROHM Co., Ltd. – worth over one billion US dollars until 2030. The development partnership with ROHM began in 2020. Vitesco Technologies’ advanced inverters with integrated ROHM SiC chips will be adopted by two customers and will start supplying a first series project as early as 2024 – ahead of the originally targeted timeline.
“The supply partnership agreement with ROHM is an important building block for securing Vitesco Technologies' SiC capacities in the years ahead,” said Andreas Wolf , CEO of Vitesco Technologies.
CNBC Anchor Jon Fortt spoke with 安森美半导体 CEO Hassane El-Khoury about the company's addition to the Nasdaq 100, the future of Silicon Carbide, and the momentum of the electric vehicle industry.
Gallium Nitride News
The lateral GaN power semiconductor technology enables monolithic integration of complete power converter topologies such as half-bridges, multi-phase and multi-level converters. Fabrication on Si substrates enables low-cost and mass production. However, the operation of monolithic GaN power converters on a common conductive silicon (Si) substrate is limited compared to discrete GaN HEMTs, especially at high-voltage operation, due to substrate-biasing effects such as back-gated or trap-related static and dynamic on-resistance increase, and changed effective device capacitances. To circumvent the Si substrate related effects but still using a low-cost large-diameter Si substrate, researcher at Fraunhofer IAF review isolation approaches for GaN ICs such as Si p-n junction isolation or floating Si substrates (GaN-on-Si) and buried oxide isolation using Silicon-on-Insulator substrates (GaN-on-SOI).
Stefan M?nch , Michael Basler , Richard Reiner , Fouad Benkhelifa, Philipp D?ring , Matthias Sinnwell, Stefan Müller, Michael Mikulla, Patrick Waltereit , Rüdiger Quay , GaN power converter and high-side IC substrate issues on Si, p-n junction, or SOI, e-Prime - Advances in Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Energy, Volume 4, 2023, 100171, ISSN 2772-6711, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prime.2023.100171.
According to David Radulescu, Ph.D. from Radulescu LLP , EPC - Efficient Power Conversion has amended its ITC complaint against Innoscience :
Interestingly, EPC has yet to explain or clarify how its TEM and SIMS infringement evidence is “miraculously” the same for the accused low and high voltage Innoscience FETs.?See attached.?Radulescu said that he had never seen such a thing in 30+ years of analyzing infringement evidence for FETs.
Professor Florin Udrea, co-founder and CTO of Cambridge GaN Devices Ltd , was recently inducted into the ISPSD Hall of Fame, which honors individuals who have made high impact contributions in advancing power semiconductor technology and/or sustaining the success of ISPSD. Udrea’s citation reads: “For inspiring a generation of engineers to excel in power semiconductors and his numerous contributions to the field and to ISPSD.” Emphasizing this statement, at the latest conference, ISPSD 23, in Hong Kong, Udrea also won awards for ‘Best Paper’ and ‘Best Poster’ – the first time in the 35-year history of ISPSD when these two awards have been given to the same person.
Prof. Udrea has published over 600 papers in journals and international conferences and is an inventor of 200 patents in power semiconductor devices and sensors. In 2015 he was elected a Fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering.
“It is a very great honor to be welcomed into the ISPSD Hall of Fame, and I am proud to join such an august and select group of illustrious and pioneering colleagues. It is my privilege and also good fortune to be active at a time when the subject of ‘power’ has never been more relevant. By working with new wide bandgap materials such as GaN, we can all improve efficiency and reduce our carbon footprint”, Florin Udrea
High-power 650V and 1200V GaN devices are rising as promising solutions for EV applications and can deliver superior energy efficiency, increased reliability, space optimization, and reduced overall system costs, says Giovanni Di Maria . These devices represent a key technology for making EVs an affordable and accessible reality for an increasingly broad audience.
Several newly developed converter topologies using FQS devices are currently being investigated in academic research centers. Such solutions are more complex when IGBT and SiC components are used. Still, they are certainly simpler with the use of GaNs, which allow for superior switching performance, a wide voltage range (up to 1.2kV), a wide power range (even above 10kW), high reliability, excellent short-circuit responses, and excellent four-quadrant switching capability.
Miscellaneous News
Semiconductors make our lifes easier, safer, and greener. There are a lot of stories to be told.
1 年Thanks for highlighting our #podcast4engineers. It‘s fun working on, and we are open for any #semiconductor topic our listeners are interested in. Just be in contact.