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LATEST NEWS / PRODUCT & TECHNOLOGY / SiC / WBGSTMicroelectronics Released an Advanced Galvanically Isolated Gate Drivers for IGBTs and SiC MOSFETs
November 7, 2024
2 Min ReadSTMicroelectronics’ STGAP3S family of gate drivers for silicon-carbide (SiC) and IGBT power switches combines ST’s latest robust galvanic isolation technology with optimized desaturation protection and flexible Miller-clamp architecture.
Featuring reinforced capacitive galvanic isolation between the gate-driving channel and the low-voltage control and interface circuitry, the STGAP3S withstands 9.6kV transient isolation voltage (VIOTM) with 200V/ns common-mode transient immunity (CMTI). With its state-of-the-art isolation, the STGAP3S enhances reliability in motor drives for industrial applications such as air conditioning, factory automation, and home appliances. The new drivers are also used in power and energy applications including charging stations, energy storage systems, power-factor correction (PFC), DC/DC converters, and solar inverters.
The STGAP3S product family includes different options with 10A and 6A current capability, each of them available with differentiated Under Voltage Lock-Out (UVLO) and desaturation intervention thresholds. This helps designers select the best device to match the performance of their chosen SiC MOSFET or IGBT power switches.
The Desaturation protection implements an overload and short-circuit protection for the external power switch providing the possibility to adjust the turn-off strategy using an external resistor to maximize the protection turn-off speed while avoiding excessive overvoltage spikes. The undervoltage-lockout protection prevents turn-on with insufficient drive voltage.
The driver’s integrated Miller Clamp architecture provides a pre-driver for an external N-channel MOSFET. Designers can thus leverage flexibility to select a suitable intervention speed that prevents induced turn-on and avoids cross conduction.
The available device variants allow a choice of 10A sink/source and 6A sink/source drive-current capability for optimum performance with the chosen power switch with desaturation-detection and UVLO thresholds optimized for IGBT or SiC technology. The fault conditions of desaturation, UVLO and overtemperature protection are notified with two dedicated open drain diagnostic pins.
Original – STMicroelectronics
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ROHM Co., Ltd.’s financial report for the six months ending September 30, 2024, reveals a challenging period characterized by a decline in net sales and profitability. The company’s net sales dropped by 3.0% year-over-year to ¥232,022 million. This decline reflects a mix of robust demand in certain markets, such as automotive electronics, which increased sales in SiC power devices, and growth in the computer and storage sectors. However, these gains were offset by significant sales declines in the industrial equipment market.
Key financial metrics deteriorated, with ROHM reporting an operating loss of ¥974 million, a reversal from a profit of ¥29,833 million in the prior year. Factors influencing this loss include lower sales volumes, reduced production due to inventory adjustments, and higher costs associated with expanding SiC device production and adopting eight-inch wafers. The ordinary profit also declined to a loss of ¥129 million, impacted by foreign exchange losses. Profit attributable to shareholders dropped by 94.5% to ¥2,068 million, primarily due to reduced gains on securities sales.
ROHM’s EBITDA also saw a decrease, down 35.8% to ¥39,344 million. Segment-wise, integrated circuits and discrete semiconductor devices faced declines, with IC sales down 2.9% and segment profit down 54.8%. Power devices in the automotive sector performed well, but broader semiconductor device sales suffered from subdued demand in the industrial equipment sector. In contrast, modules and resistors segments showed marginal growth, supported by increased demand for smartphone sensor modules and high-power resistors for automotive applications.
Looking forward, ROHM expects continuing economic and industry challenges, such as slowing EV market growth, prolonged inventory adjustments in industrial equipment, and fluctuating consumer demand. As a result, ROHM has revised its forecast, projecting full-year sales to decrease by 3.8% to ¥450,000 million, alongside anticipated losses in operating profit and ordinary profit. The company plans to proceed with production adjustments, aiming for future alignment with customer demand, particularly in energy-efficient solutions and advanced power devices.
Original – ROHM
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Axcelis Technologies, Inc. announced financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024. The Company reported third quarter revenue of $256.6 million, compared to $256.5 million for the second quarter of 2024. Gross margin for the quarter was 42.9%, compared to 43.8% in the second quarter. Operating profit for the quarter was $46.9 million, compared to $52.8 million for the second quarter. Net income for the quarter was $48.6 million, or $1.49 per diluted share, compared to $50.9 million, or $1.55 per diluted share in the second quarter.
President and CEO Russell Low commented, “Axcelis executed well in the third quarter with results relatively in-line with our expectations. While we anticipate a near term digestion of mature node capacity through the first half of 2025, customer engagement is strong and our long-term growth opportunity remains squarely intact highlighted by attractive secular growth in silicon carbide, a cyclical recovery in our memory and general mature markets, market share gains in advanced logic and regional penetration of the Japan market.”
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Jamie Coogan said, “We are pleased with the financial performance delivered by our team thus far in 2024. Our cash generation remains strong, we are engaging with customers across a number of key growth opportunities, and we are investing in our product roadmaps while maintaining discipline in our overall cost structure. All of this, when coupled with our strong balance sheet, put us in position to capture the growth opportunities that lie ahead and drive long-term value creation for shareholders.”
For the fourth quarter ending December 31, 2024, Axcelis expects revenues of approximately $245 million, and earnings per diluted share of approximately $1.25.
Original – Axcelis Technologies
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Veeco Instruments Inc. announced financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2024. Results are reported in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and are also reported adjusting for certain items (“Non-GAAP”). A reconciliation between GAAP and Non-GAAP operating results is provided at the end of this press release.
Third Quarter 2024 Highlights:
- Revenue of $184.8 million, compared with $177.4 million in the same period last year
- GAAP net income of $22.0 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, compared with $24.6 million, or $0.42 per diluted share in the same period last year
- Non-GAAP net income of $28.3 million, or $0.46 per diluted share, compared with $31.0 million, or $0.53 per diluted share in the same period last year
“Veeco reported solid third quarter results above the mid-point of our guidance, led by record Semiconductor revenue,” commented Bill Miller, Ph.D., Veeco’s Chief Executive Officer. “Our Semiconductor business grew 26% year-over-year and 13% sequentially, highlighted by an increase in shipments to leading-edge customers across several product lines. Our portfolio of enabling technologies is gaining traction for several industry inflections, contributing to our expectations for our Semiconductor business to outperform WFE growth for the 4th consecutive year.”
Original – Veeco Instruments
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Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. announced results for the fiscal third quarter ended September 28, 2024.
Highlights
- 3Q 2024 revenues of $735.4 million
- Gross margin was 20.5% and included the negative impact of approximately 150 basis points related to the addition of Newport
- GAAP loss per share of ($0.14); adjusted EPS of $0.08 per share
- 3Q 2024 book-to-bill of 0.88 with book-to-bill of 0.79 for semiconductors and 0.97 for passive components
- Backlog at quarter end was 4.4 months
“For the third consecutive quarter this year, revenue has held fairly constant, reflecting a prolonged period of inventory de-stocking as the pace of consumption by industrial customers remains slow, backlogs are pushed out and macroeconomic conditions in Europe worsen,” said Joel Smejkal, President and CEO. “While the industry remains in a downcycle, we are making the necessary adjustments to manage costs while continuing to execute our five-year strategic plan. We are preparing to participate fully in the next industry up-cycle and we are putting the foundation in place to capitalize on the longer term demand catalysts of e-mobility and sustainability to drive faster revenue growth, and improve profitability and returns on invested capital.”
For the fourth quarter of 2024, management expects revenues in the range of $720 million +/- $20 million, with gross profit margin in the range of 20.0% +/- 50 basis points, including the negative impact of approximately 175 to 200 basis points from the addition of Newport.
Original – Vishay Intertechnology
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Navitas Semiconductor has announced the world’s first 8.5 kW power supply unit (PSU), powered by GaN and SiC technologies to achieve 98% efficiency, for next-generation AI and hyperscale data centers.
The AI-optimized 54V output PSU complies with Open Compute Project (OCP) and Open Rack v3 (ORv3) specifications and utilizes high-power GaNSafe and Gen-3 Fast SiC MOSFETs configured in 3-phase interleaved PFC and LLC topologies, to ensure the highest efficiency and performance, with lowest component count. The PSU’s shift to a 3-phase topology for both the PFC and LLC (vs. 2-phase topologies used by competing PSUs) enables the industry’s lowest ripple current and EMI.
Furthermore, the PSU reduces the number of GaN and SiC devices by 25% compared with the nearest competing system, which reduces the overall cost. The PSU has an input voltage range of 180 to 264 Vac, a standby output voltage of 12 V, and an operating temperature range of -5oC to 45oC. Its hold-up time at 8.5 kW is 10 ms, with 20 ms possible through an extender.
The 3-Phase LLC topology is enabled by high-power GaNSafe, which is specifically created for demanding, high-power applications, such as AI data centers and industrial markets. Navitas’ 4th generation integrates control, drive, sensing, and critical protection features that enable unprecedented reliability and robustness. GaNSafe is the world’s safest GaN with short-circuit protection (350ns max latency), 2kV ESD protection on all pins, elimination of negative gate drive, and programmable slew rate control. All these features are controlled with 4-pins, allowing the package to be treated like a discrete GaN FET, requiring no VCC pin. Suitable for applications from 1 kW to 22 kW, 650 V GaNSafe in TOLL and TOLT packages are available with a range of RDS(ON)MAX from 25 to 98 mΩ.
The 3-Phase interleaved CCM TP-PFC is powered by Gen-3 Fast SiC MOSFETs with ‘trench-assisted planar’ technology, which has been enabled by over 20 years of SiC innovation leadership and offers world-leading performance over temperature, delivering cool-running, fast-switching, and superior robustness to support faster charging EVs and up to 3x more powerful AI data centers.
“This complete wide bandgap solution of GaN and SiC enables the continuation of Navitas’ AI power roadmap which enables this 8.5kW and plans to drive to 12kW & higher in the near-term”, said Gene Sheridan, CEO and co-founder of Navitas. “As many as 95% of the world’s data centers cannot support the power demands of servers running NVIDIA’s latest Blackwell GPUs, highlighting a readiness gap in the ecosystem. This PSU design directly addresses these challenges for AI and hyperscale data centers.”
The PSU will be on display for the first time at Electronica 2024 (Hall C 3, booth 129, November 12th– 15th).
Original – Navitas Semiconductor
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GlobalFoundries Inc. (GF) announced preliminary financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024.
Key Third Quarter Financial Highlights
- Revenue of $1.739 billion
- Gross margin of 23.8% and Non-IFRS gross margin of 24.7%
- Operating margin of 10.6% and Non-IFRS operating margin of 13.6%
- Net income of $178 million and Non-IFRS net income of $229 million
- Non-IFRS adjusted EBITDA of $627 million
- Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $4.3 billion
- Year to date net cash provided by operating activities of $1,265 million and Non-IFRS adjusted free cash flow of $779 million
“In the third quarter, the GF team continued to execute next generation opportunities with our customers, by securing key design wins across our growing portfolio of essential chip technologies,” said Dr. Thomas Caulfield, President and CEO of GF. “We delivered consistent financial results at the upper end of the guidance ranges we provided in our August earnings release, and as we continue to navigate the ongoing uncertainties facing our industry, we remain on-track to deliver approximately a threefold increase in our year-over-year Non-IFRS adjusted free cash flow generation by the end of 2024.”
Recent Business Highlights
- Building on the longtime relationship between GF and NXP Semiconductors (NXP), the companies announced a new collaboration leveraging GF’s 22FDX® process technology platform and global manufacturing footprint to optimize the power, performance and time-to-market of NXP’s solutions across a range of automotive, IoT and smart mobile devices. GF’s 22FDX chips will be manufactured in Dresden, Germany and Malta, New York, providing NXP geographically diverse supply for their customers.
- Over one thousand customers and partners attended GF’s annual Technology Summit held around the world in Santa Clara, California, Munich, Germany and Shanghai, China, to build deeper relationships and learn how GF’s essential chips play a critical role in realizing “AI Everywhere.”
- GF entered into a strategic technology development and licensing agreement with Finwave Semiconductor, Inc (Finwave), a leading innovator in GaN technology. The collaboration will optimize and scale Finwave’s cutting-edge GaN-on-Si technology to volume production at GF’s 200mm fab in Burlington, Vermont.
Original – GlobalFoundries
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STMicroelectronics inaugurated its new design and industrialization center, equipped with a test lab, in Pisa Montacchiello, Italy. The CEO of STMicroelectronics Italy, Lucio Colombo, and the Rector of the University of Pisa, Riccardo Zucchi, cut the ribbon of the new center, the thirteenth ST site in Italy and the first in Tuscany.
The center, built in collaboration with professors from the University of Pisa’s Department of Information Engineering, currently houses around 40 people mainly dedicated to the design and industrialization of integrated circuits. They include analog and digital designers with different skills, together with researchers and thesis students from the University of Pisa.
Most of the designers belong to ST’s APMS Product Group’s Analog Custom Devices (ACD) division, which works on the design and development of products for the consumer electronics market. In particular, the Pisa team of the ACD division focuses on products for wireless charging and power management. Their goal is to identify and implement innovative solutions to improve the efficiency of battery-powered devices like smartphones. The center is equipped with a test lab to carry out the validation and industrialization of the products developed on-site.
In addition to inaugurating and visiting the center, Riccardo Zucchi and Lucio Colombo signed a framework agreement, the purpose of which is to – support the training of qualified students and graduates by collaborating on teaching courses for the University and by setting up scholarships in line with current regulations;
– contribute to studies and research focused on technological innovation within the center’s areas of expertise and interest;
– to uphold the high cultural standards of its operators and promote their professional development through meaningful contacts and cooperation with the University through courses guaranteed by the University.“The Pisa Center was born 20 months ago with the aim of growing quickly by acquiring talent in the area, thanks to the collaboration with the University of Pisa, but also by attracting talent eager to return to Tuscany in search of the job opportunities offered by a global leader,” said Lucio Colombo, CEO of STMicroelectronics Italy. “This is a model that ST has applied over the years at Italian universities close to its research and production centers.”
“The goal was to reach around 40 employees in two years and to date we are satisfied with the progress made. The Center relies on electronics engineers with mixed skills: analog/digital/software and testing, and with different seniority, together with researchers and thesis students,” explains Patrizia Milazzo, ACD Director, STMicroelectronics. “We believe that the rapid development of the center was made possible through the great collaboration with the University and the determination of ST colleagues, who were strongly dedicated to creating a center of excellence in Tuscany.”
Original – STMicroelectronics
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SemiQ will exhibit its latest SiC power solutions for high-voltage applications at electronica 2024, the world’s leading electronics trade fair and conference, in Munich from November 12-15.
Visitors to SemiQ will be able to explore the company’s latest advancements in high-voltage technology. This includes the debut of the next generation of 1200V SiC MOSFETs and SemiQ’s QSiC portfolio of ultra-efficient modules, supporting innovations in EVs, renewable energy, motor drives, medical power supplies and high-power solar applications.
Engineered with high-performance ceramics, QSiC™ MOSFET modules offer industry-leading reliability in a compact form factor and have been designed to specifically meet the stringent demands for high-power, high-frequency applications. Each module undergoes wafer-level gate burn-in testing to ensure high-quality gate oxide and stable gate threshold voltage.
Dr. Timothy Han, President of SemiQ said: “Our solutions significantly enhance the performance and efficiencies necessary to propel the industry forward, unlocking yet more high-power applications. We look forward to demonstrating how these innovative technologies will pave the way for fresh designs and advancements in the industry.”
Electronica will take place at the Messe München in Munich, Germany, from November 12-15, 2024. SemiQ’s stand is at Alfatec’s booth in Hall A5, Booth 421.
Original – SemiQ
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EPC Space announced the launch of HEMTKY product line.
A HEMTKY is a HEMT, High Electron Mobility Transistor, with an embedded Schottky diode. The presence of an antiparallel Schottky diode in the HEMTKY structure minimizes third quadrant conduction losses absent GaN HEMT synchronous drive. Notable advantages are:
- Predictable conduction losses, no reverse recovery charge
- Reduced system sensitivity to half-bridge deadtime variance
- Reduced negative voltage stress on gate drivers
For 500-unit quantities, engineering models are priced at $212 USD each, while space level units are priced at $315 USD each.
EPC Space provides revolutionary high-reliability radiation-hardened enhancement-mode gallium nitride power management solutions for space and other harsh environments. Radiation hardened GaN-based power devices address critical spaceborne environments for applications such as power supplies, motor drives, ion thrusters, and more. eGaN is a registered trademark of Efficient Power Conversion Corporation, Inc.
Original – EPC Space
