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AIXTRON SE supports GlobiTech Inc., one of the world’s largest silicon-epitaxy foundries, to expand their business into silicon carbide (SiC) epitaxy. AIXTRON’s new G10-SiC has enabled this global leader to quickly ramp its SiC epitaxy production into high volume to address the world’s increasing demand for power epi-wafers. GlobiTech’s selection of the G10-SiC means a future-proof investment based on dual wafer size configuration of 9×150 & 6×200 mm and the highest throughput per fab space available in the SiC industry today.
The G10-SiC was officially introduced in September 2022. And it has quickly become the tool of record for both 150mm and 200mm SiC device makers as well as foundries like GlobiTech, the wholly owned subsidiary of GlobalWafers Co., Ltd., which manufactures silicon carbide and silicon epitaxial wafers focused on power and electric vehicle (EV) market segments.
“When one of the largest manufacturers and foundries like GlobiTech diversifies its business, it is a clear signal of a long-lasting trend in the semiconductor industry: conventional silicon is being replaced by silicon carbide in an ever-increasing number of applications. And it makes us proud when a leading company such as GlobiTech chooses AIXTRON and our new G10-SiC as an enabler of its transition intothis emerging SiC market. It confirms our overall strategy and the prospects for further growth”, says Dr. Felix Grawert, CEO and President of AIXTRON SE.
GlobiTech, located in Sherman, TX, is already in high-volume production using both G5WW C and G10-SiC AIXTRON systems, with continued installation capacity over the next years.Modeled after the silicon business, GlobiTech supplies both SiC substrates and SiC epitaxy to the market.
“In AIXTRON, we have found a strong partner supporting us in our vision and plans to expand our business into the SiC epitaxy market – an important step as SiC technology is one of the fastest-growing semiconductor sectors. AIXTRON tools allow us to get the most wafers out of our current fab. And AIXTRON’s team understands what it takes to compete against silicon to grow this market while offering great customer support and service”, says Mark England, President of GlobalWafers.
The G10-SiC is the first SiC epitaxy tool on the market that truly enables high-volume production of SiC epi-wafers. Since the G10-SiC offers both 9×150 mm and 6×200 mm batch configurations, it is an instrumental tool for a market rapidly transitioning from 6-inch (150mm) to 8-inch (200 mm) wafer diameters. The new platform is built around AIXTRON’s proven automated wafer cassette-to-cassette loading solution with high-temperature wafer transfer.
Combined with high growth rate process capabilities, the G10-SiC provides best-in-class wafer throughput, an excellent epi wafer performance in terms of quality and uniformity, and the best throughput per square meter of fab space. All this leads to the lowest cost of ownership in the market. It is estimated that in 2023, the new G10-SiC will become AIXTRON’s top-selling product.
The wide-bandgap material SiC is set to become mainstream technology for efficient power electronics. Driven by the growing adoption of SiC-based power semiconductors within e-mobility solutions and the overall acceleration of the charging infrastructure, the global demand for SiC wafers is growing rapidly.And with its superior characteristics, SiC semiconductors offer higher energy efficiency than conventional power electronics based on silicon. Therefore, SiC significantly contributes to reducing the global CO2 footprint.
Original – AIXTRON
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Semilab announced an agreement to form a long-term strategic partnership with Fraunhofer IISB. Within the framework of this cooperation, a demo lab will be opened with a strong focus on developing state-of-the-art metrology and inspection solutions for wide bandgap semiconductor materials.
Over the years, developments in compound semiconductor materials such as silicon carbide (SiC) have been receiving increased attention. SiC devices show great promise in the future of wide bandgap semiconductors due to their superior material properties. The silicon carbide market’s growth shows no sign of slowing down due to the expansion in the industrial and automotive sectors. Semilab believes in driving decarbonization by supporting the development of key SiC products and components.
Based in Budapest, Hungary, Semilab is a strategic metrology supplier and innovation partner of the leading wafer manufacturers, IC device makers in the More-than-Moore market segment. Semilab provides state-of-the-art metrology solutions for semiconductor device manufacturers, both in-line and R&D segments. The company is among the world leaders in non-contact CV metrology for SiC and its market share is growing for EPI thickness and resistivity monitoring.
The Fraunhofer IISB in Erlangen, Germany, specializes in wide-bandgap semiconductors and efficient power electronics. Here, device know-how merges with complex system development, especially for e-mobility and sustainable energy supply.
The institute bundles its activities in the two business units Power Electronic Systems and Semiconductors. In doing so, it comprehensively covers the entire value chain from basic materials, through semiconductor device, process and module technologies, to complete electronics and energy systems. As a unique center of excellence in Europe for the semiconductor material silicon carbide (SiC), the IISB is a pioneer in the development of highly efficient power electronics, even for extreme requirements. This spans from material, over process and to device development supported by providing innovative metrology solutions.
Considering the crucial role both players have in shaping of the European semiconductor scene, the strategic partnership between Semilab and Fraunhofer IISB will allow the utilization of their respective resources and global networks in order to develop new, innovative silicon carbide processes and metrologies.
Original – Semilab
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Navitas Semiconductor announced participation at the International Conference on Silicon Carbide and Related Materials (ICSCRM) 2023, to be held in Sorrento, Italy.
The ICSCRM conference fosters collaboration and knowledge sharing among the brightest minds in the field. The conference has a rich history dating back to its inaugural meeting in 1987, evolving into a premier global forum for in-depth technical discussions on all aspects of SiC and related materials.
GeneSiC™ power devices, optimized for high-power, high-voltage, and high-reliability SiC applications, address critical markets including electric vehicles, solar energy, energy storage, industrial applications, data centers, and consumer electronics. With an unmatched voltage range spanning from 650 V to 6.5 kV, GeneSiC MOSFETs and Schottky MPS™ diodes have been at the forefront of SiC technology advancement, offering performance and efficiency that pave the way for a more electrified and sustainable future.
Navitas Semiconductor will present two paper sessions at ICSCRM 2023:
- “New Generation SiC MPS Diodes with Low Schottky Barrier Height”
- “650 V SiC Power MOSFETs with Statistically Tight VTH Control and RDS(ON) of 1.92 mΩ-cm²”
Additionally, Navitas’ SVP of SiC Technology & Operations, Dr. Sid Sundaresan, will be chairing the session on Thursday, September 21st. The session, titled “Devices 4: Short circuit, avalanche and reliability,” will focus on crucial topics in the field of SiC technology.
“Navitas’ presence at ICSCRM 2023 is a testament to the company’s unparalleled expertise in SiC technology and its commitment to driving innovation in the industry,” said Dr. Ranbir Singh, Navitas EVP for the GeneSiC business line. “As a pioneer in the field, we continue to extend the boundaries of SiC technology, revolutionizing power semiconductors with cutting-edge GeneSiC™ technology.”
Original – Navitas Semiconductor
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Vitesco Technologies is developing a power module which will be manufactured using transfer molding process. During this process the power electronics are sealed under a dielectric material that protects the components extremely well. The result is a very robust, cost effective and reliable electronic. The power module consists of three overmolded half-bridges and forms the core of an inverter system, which controls both the drive energy and the energy recovery (recuperation) in high-voltage electric vehicles.
Manufactured at the Nuremberg electronics plant, the power modules will be delivered to a large global car maker from mid-2025 onwards.
Vitesco Technologies has been adapting and utilizing transfer molding technology since 2020, first applying it to compact Transmission Control Units designed for full integration inside a gear box.
The overmold power modules now combine highly efficient state-of-the art silicon carbide (SiC) chip technology with overmolding to facilitate a particularly robust product with increased power density, lower cost and reduced weight.
These power modules are a good example of strategic approach of using the scalability and modularity of our power electronics to develop and manufacture submodules in addition to the complete electronics. Combined with extensive overmolding expertise, Vitesco can deliver an extremely robust product to our customers. This is yet another example of how the company successfully transfers proven technology to an electrification product.
- Thomas Stierle, member of the board and head of Vitesco Technologies’ Electrification Solutions division
Vitesco Technologies has extensive expertise in power electronics and is already on the market with its fourth generation. The newly developed overmold power module expands the company’s strategic portfolio.
A very deep system competence is necessary to ensure that a sub-module of this kind, which forms the core of the inverter, can be successfully integrated into the full system. Our degree of electronics modularity and scalability enables us to offer more flexibility in terms of customer-specific interfaces.
- Michael Horbel, head of product and platform management high voltage inverter at Vitesco Technologies
Vitesco Technologies will continue to use this strength to bring further electronic sub-modules to the market.
The lead plant for these modules is Vitesco Technologies’ Nuremberg site. With its existing competencies and experience, the plant offers a high degree of automation as well as the focus on electronics and e-mobility required for the power modules. This is a further step forward into the “Plant of the Future” concept, defined for the Nuremberg plant to maintain its international competitiveness.
Original – Vitesco Technologies
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Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) succeeded in transferring the ‘Ion Implantation and its Evaluation Technology for the SiC (silicon carbide) Power Semiconductor’ to a Hungarian company.
Power semiconductors are key components in electricity and electronics, acting as the muscles of the human body by regulating the direction of current and controlling power conversion. There are many different materials for power semiconductors. Among them, SiC is receiving the most attention due to its excellent material properties, including high durability and excellent power efficiency. When SiC power semiconductors are incorporated into electric vehicles, they cut down the power consumption of the battery and reduce the body weight and volume of the vehicle, resulting in energy efficiency improvements of up to 10%
While SiC power semiconductors have many advantages, the manufacturing process is also very challenging. Previously, a method was applied to create a device by forming an epi layer (single-crystal semiconductor thin-film) on a highly conductive wafer and flowing current through that area. However, during this process, the surface of the epi layer becomes rough and the speed of electron transfer decreases. The price of the epi wafer itself is also high, which is a major obstacle to mass production.
To solve this problem, KERI used a method of implanting ions into a semi-insulated SiC wafer without an epi layer. Ion implantation, which makes a wafer conductive, is the work that breathes life into a semiconductor.
SiC materials are hard and require very high energy ion implantation followed by high temperature heat treatment to activate the ions, making it a difficult technology to implement. However, KERI has succeeded in securing the relevant technologies based on its 10 years of experience in operating ion implantation equipment dedicated to SiC.
“Ion implantation technology can significantly reduce process costs by increasing current flow in semiconductor devices and replacing expensive epi wafers,” said Dr. Kim, Hyoung Woo, Director, Advanced Semiconductor Research Center, KERI. He continued, “This is a technology that increases the price competitiveness of high-performance SiC power semiconductors and contributes greatly to mass production.”
This technology was recently transferred to ‘SEMILAB ZRT (CEO: Tibor Pavelka)’, a semiconductor metrology equipment company located in Budapest, Hungary. With a 30-year history, SEMILAB has manufacturing plants in Hungary and the United States. SEMILAB owns patents for medium-sized precision measurement equipment and material characterization equipment, and has the world’s leading technology in semiconductor electrical parameter evaluation system.
They predict that through this technology transfer, they will be able to standardize high-quality SiC. SEMILAB plans to use KERI technology to develop specialized equipment to evaluate the ion implantation process of SiC power semiconductor.
Park Su-yong, the president of SEMILAB Korea, said, “Through the development of specialized equipment, we will be able to progress in-line monitoring of implant processes on SiC wafers for immediate, accurate, and low-cost production control of implant systems and in-line monitoring for pre-anneal implant.” He added, “This will be a great foundation for stably securing a high-quality ion implantation mass production process with excellent uniformity and reproducibility.”
KERI is a government-funded research institute under the NST (National Research Council of Science & Technology) of the Ministry of Science and ICT. It has a total of more than 120 intellectual property rights in the field of power semiconductor research. As of the last 10 years, power semiconductor division of KERI has achieved more than KRW 3 billion in technology transfers, the highest level in South Korea.
Original – KERI
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Navitas Semiconductor announced the world-wide launch of GaNSafe™, a new, high-performance wide bandgap power platform at a special customer, partner and press event in Taiwan. Navitas has optimized its 4th-generation gallium nitride technology for demanding, high-power applications in data centers, solar / energy storage and EV markets, where efficiency, power density and robust & reliable operation are critical.
At the worldwide launch event at the Marriot Taipei, Navitas’ David Carroll, Sr. VP Worldwide Sales, and Charles Bailley, Sr. Director Business Development will introduce Navitas and the new GaNSafe platform to an invited VIP audience of over 50 high-ranking customer attendees, plus industry partners and international media.
The new 4th-generation GaN power ICs are manufactured in Hsinchu, by long-term Navitas partner TSMC. Navitas is grateful to Dr. RY Su, Manager of GaN Power Technology at TSMC, who will make a special presentation on the future of GaN at the GaNSafe launch.
Navitas’ GaNFast™ power ICs integrate gallium nitride (GaN) power and drive, with control, sensing, and protection to enable faster charging, higher power density, and greater energy savings, with over 100,000,000 units shipped, and an industry-first 20-year warranty. Now, the new GaNSafe platformhas been engineered with additional, application-specific protection features, functions and new, high-power packaging to deliver enabling performance under grueling high-temperature, long-duration conditions.
The initial, high-power 650/800 V GaNSafe portfolio covers a range of RDS(ON) from 35 to 98 mΩ in a novel, robust, and cool-running surface-mount TOLL package, to address applications from 1,000 to 22,000 W. GaNSafe integrated features and functions include:
- Protected, regulated, integrated gate-drive control, with zero gate-source loop inductance for reliable high-speed 2 MHz switching capability to maximize application power density.
- High-speed short-circuit protection, with autonomous ‘detect and protect’ within 50 ns – 4x faster than competing discrete solutions.
- Electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection of 2 kV, compared to zero for discrete GaN transistors.
- 650 V continuous, and 800 V transient voltage capability to aid survival during extraordinary application conditions.
- Easy-to-use, complete, high-power, high-reliability, high-performance power IC with only 4 pins, to accelerate customer designs.
- Programmable turn-on and turn-off speeds (dV/dt) to simplify EMI regulatory requirements.
Unlike discrete GaN transistor designs, with voltage spikes, undershoot and specification breaches, GaNSafe delivers an efficient, predictable, reliable system. GaNSafe’s robust 4-pin TOLL package has achieved the tough IPC-9701 mechanical reliability standard, and delivers simple, strong, dependable performance as compared to multi-chip modules which require 3x as many connections, and have poor cooling capability.
Navitas’ market-specific system design centers offer complete platform designs with benchmark efficiency, density and system cost using GaNSafe products to accelerate customer time-to-revenue and maximize chance of first-time-right designs. These system platforms include complete design collateral with fully-tested hardware, embedded software, schematics, bill-of-materials, layout, simulation and hardware test results. Examples of system platforms enabled by GaNSafe technology include:
- Navitas’ CRPS185 data center power platform, that delivers a full 3,200 W of power in only 1U (40 mm) x 73.5mm x 185 mm (544 cc), achieving 5.9 W/cc, or almost 100 W/in3 power density. This is a 40% size reduction vs, the equivalent legacy silicon approach and reaches over 96.5% efficiency at 30% load, and over 96% stretching from 20% to 60% load, creating a ‘Titanium Plus’ benchmark.
- Navitas’ 6.6 kW 3-in-1 bi-directional EV on-board charger (OBC) with 3 kW DC-DC. This 96%+ efficient unit has over 50% higher power density, and with efficiency over 95%, delivers up to 16% energy savings as compared to competing solutions.
“Our original GaNFast and GaNSense technologies have set the industry standard for mobile charging, establishing the first market with high-volume, mainstream GaN adoption to displace silicon,” said Gene Sheridan, CEO and co-founder. “GaNSafe takes our technology to the next level, as the most protected, reliable and safe GaN devices in the industry, and now also targeting 1-22 kW power systems in AI-based data centers, EV, solar and energy storage systems. Customers can now achieve the full potential of GaN in these multi-billion dollar markets demanding the highest efficiency, density and reliability.”
The GaNSafe portfolio is available immediately to qualified customers with mass production expected to begin in Q4 2023. 40 customer projects are already in progress with GaNSafe in data center, solar, energy storage and EV applications, contributing to Navitas’ $1 billion customer pipeline.
Original – Navitas Semiconductor
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Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. has determined that QST® (Qromis Substrate Technology) substrate is an essential material for the social implementation of high-performance, energy-efficient GaN (gallium nitride) power devices, and the company will promote the development and launching on the market of these products.
Since QST® substrate is designed to have the same coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) as GaN, it enables suppression of warpage and cracking of the GaN epitaxial layer and resultant large-diameter, high-quality thick GaN epitaxial growth. Taking advantage of these characteristics, it is expected to be applied to power devices and RF devices (5G and beyond 5G), which have been rapidly growing in recent years, as well as in such areas as MicroLED growth for MicroLED displays.
In addition to sales of QST® substrates, Shin-Etsu Chemical will also sell GaN grown QST® substrates upon customer request. We currently have a line-up of 6″ and 8″ diameter substrates, and we are working on 12″ diameter substrates. Since 2021, for each respective application for power devices, RF devices and LEDs, sample evaluation and device development are continuing with numerous customers in Japan and globally. Especially for power devices, continuous evaluation is underway for devices in the wide range of 650V to 1800V.
So far, Shin-Etsu Chemical has repeatedly made many improvements with regard to its QST® substrates. One example is the significant improvement in lowering defects originating from the bonding process, which has enabled the supply of high-quality QST® substrates. In addition, for the thicker GaN films that many of our customers have requested, we have promoted the provision of template substrates with optimized buffer layers, which enables our customers to realize stable epitaxial growth of more than 10 μm thickness. Furthermore, various successful results have been produced and reported on, including the achievement of thick-film GaN growth exceeding 20 μm using QST® substrates and the achievement of 1800V breakdown voltage in power devices.
Moreover, Shin-Etsu Chemical and Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. have jointly succeeded in developing a technology to exfoliate GaN from QST® substrates and bond it to substrates made of different materials using Crystal Film Bonding (CFB) technology. Until now, most GaN power devices have been lateral devices, but CFB technology takes advantage of the characteristics of QST® substrates to realize vertical power devices that can control large currents by exfoliating a thick layer of high-quality GaN from an insulating QST® substrate (see figure below).
To customers who manufacture GaN devices, Shin-Etsu Chemical will provide QST® substrates or GaN grown QST® substrates and Oki Electric Industry will provide its CFB technology through partnering or licensing. In this way, the two companies hope to contribute to the advancement of vertical power devices.
Based on these development results and also based on business situation inquiries from customers, Shin-Etsu Chemical will continue to increase production to meet customer demand.
Shin-Etsu Chemical will contribute to the realization of a sustainable society that can use energy efficiently by further promoting the social implementation of GaN devices that have characteristics that are absolutely essential for the future society.
Original – Shin-Etsu Chemical
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On the road towards becoming a fully electric car maker by 2030, an important focus area for Volvo technology investments and R&D spending is e-motors, inverters and overall electric drivetrain optimisation.
Only by gaining control over electrification technology stack – a process called “vertical integration” – can can a company create pure electric Volvo cars that deliver on everything the customers want: longer range, faster charging and a great Volvo driving experience.
The latest investment by the Volvo Cars Tech Fund, the corporate venture capital arm, reflects those ambitions. Leadrive, a Shanghai-based company founded in 2017, is an exciting new player in power electronics and control units for fully electric cars.
Leadrive is specialising in designing and building power modules that use silicon carbide (SiC) technology. Silicon carbide is a semiconductor base material that promises to unlock highly efficient and flexible electric propulsion systems.
“Leadrive’s technology demonstrates a lot of potential for the development of more efficient electric drivetrains,” said Alexander Petrofski, CEO of the Volvo Cars Tech Fund. “That potential closely aligns with our own focus on electrification, so we’re excited to invest in the company and help it to continue growing its business.”
“Volvo Cars and Leadrive have been working very closely on the development of new generation SiC technologies, which has built a firm stairway towards the strategic collaboration,” said Jie Shen, founder and CEO of Leadrive. “This is a great milestone in Leadrive’s global strategy and demonstrates the huge potential of our cooperation in advanced electrification technology.”
Original – Volvo Car Corporation
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The new Vincotech 1200 V flowCSPFC S3 SiC module featuring current-synthesizing PFC (CS-PFC) topology based on the constant power control, strikes the best balance between performance and system cost to benefit your business.
The first module of this new product family is well suited for a DC fast charger PFC converter stage up to 35kW power, a “sweet spot” for building scalable DC charger units on a modular approach.
Main benefits
- Current-synthesizing PFC slashes module costs by > 25% with conversion efficiencyranging as high as >99%
- System costs come down with fewer and smaller inductors on the PCB
- No large electrolytic DC-link capacitors for even more system-level savings
- Pinout is ready for bidirectional applications and optimized for easy PCB routing
- High power density for compact designs and fast charging
Applications
- EV fast charger
- UPS
- ESS
Original – Vincotech
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McLaren Applied has launched IPG5-x, a highly flexible 800V Silicon Carbide (SiC) inverter that can be integrated into Electric Drive Units (EDUs). Targeting growing OEM demand for high-performing, integrated EDUs that save space and cost, the British engineering and technology pioneer has developed IPG5-x to work with a variety of motors and transmissions – especially in performance applications.
IPG5-x is an adaptation of McLaren Applied’s current award-winning 800V SiC inverter, IPG5. IPG5-x will coexist alongside the standalone IPG5, with application depending on customer need. The ‘x’ suffix was chosen because IPG5-x is a product designed for collaboration with Tier 1 and OEM partners looking to bring EDU products to market quickly and cost effectively. McLaren Applied is in discussions with several OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, and is working with transmission provider TREMEC to jointly develop an integrated EDU for their first customer vehicle application.
“In our discussions with customers and partners, it’s become clear that OEMs are increasingly looking for the option to source integrated EDUs that save space, cost and speed up development time,” commented Paolo Bargiacchi, Head of Product, Automotive at McLaren Applied. “We’ve developed the IPG5-x to be highly flexible, so it’s ready to be integrated within any combination of motor and transmission. It carries over all of our standalone IPG5’s qualities – peak efficiencies over 99%, continuously variable switching and fine motor control – building on the maturity of that product.”
Derived from decades of innovation in top tier automotive and motorsports, McLaren Applied’s IPG5-x offers best-in-class fine motor control and high efficiency through continuously variable switching frequencies; maximising the advantages of SiC semiconductors.
The IPG5-x forms a step forward in what the automotive team at McLaren Applied describes as the ‘waves of electrification’. The first wave involved early pioneers of technology, the second wave is denoted by the breakthrough of EVs to the mainstream. The third wave is efficiency and will see inverter technology rapidly adopt SiC semiconductors, especially in 800V architectures, enabling vehicles to achieve longer range where efficient power electronics are key.
Bargiacchi added: “The immediate focus must be on achieving greater drivetrain efficiency and cost reduction, which you can do through a product like IPG5-x. The competitive landscape is ramping up significantly now that all manufacturers have established their product entry points.
“Models based on dedicated 800V SiC architectures are leading the way, driving a virtuous cycle: an efficient drivetrain inherently has a smaller battery, which makes the vehicle cheaper, lighter and easier to control, and offers a smaller embedded and operating carbon footprint. It also increases range and speeds up charge times, building trust in the technology.”
As competition increases, we will enter the fourth wave, where OEMs will need to differentiate the customer experience their products deliver. In anticipation of this change, McLaren Applied has developed advanced motor control software in both IPG5 and IPG5-x that enables a variety of features ranging from improved refinement through to a more engaging drive.
Original – McLaren Applied
