On the APEC 2024 convention, held in February in Lengthy Seaside, California, Energy Electronics Information interviewed a number of primary business leaders on the newest developments and programs of gallium nitride and silicon carbide applied sciences within the persistent electronics business.
The creator carried out interviews with the underneath six audio system throughout the development.
Professionals on GaN era:
- Robert Taylor, common supervisor of commercial programs at Texas Tools
- Michael de Rooij, VP of programs engineering at EPC
- Balu Balakrishnan, CEO of Energy Integrations
Professionals on SiC era:
- Ajay Reddy Sattu, director of the product advertising and marketing GIS trade unit at onsemi
- Peter Friedrichs, VP of SiC at Infineon Applied sciences
- Ramanan Natarajan, product line advertising and marketing for persistent merchandise at Qorvo
Subjects mentioned incorporated semiconductor substrates and programs/markets.
Subject matter substrates
GaN
The primary query submitted to the GaN professionals used to be to elaborate at the importance of the selection of substrate subject material for GaN-based persistent units and the way researchers are addressing demanding situations associated with substrates to beef up tool efficiency, reliability and manufacturability.
“At Texas Tools, we’re the usage of conventional silicon substrates for our GaN units,” Taylor mentioned. “This permits us not to handiest ramp in no time in relation to having the ability to get new units out, however it additionally supplies an important price benefit, since we’re in a position to make use of numerous the producing make stronger workforce amenities that we have already got in position.”
In line with Taylor, this substrate subject material may be very well-understood and really easy to paintings with. TI thinks that this offers the corporate with an ideal benefit in relation to having the ability to get out the newest and maximum complex kinds of units for plenty of other programs.
“EPC makes units from 15 V via 350 V the usage of cheap silicon substrate,” de Rooij mentioned. “It is a just right subject material as a result of it’s well-matched for the lattice construction to develop the gallium nitride.”
On the other hand, the demanding situations include high-voltage units because of thicker necessities for the heterostructure had to meet the blockading voltage. In line with de Rooij, for high-voltage units, there are 4 choice choices: GaN, sapphire, SiC and QTS. GaN is a pricey subject material, however after all, it’s well-matched to GaN. Sapphire is much less thermally conductive, so there are demanding situations to satisfy the thermal necessities, however it’s nonetheless a just right fit to the GaN lattice construction. SiC is a pricey subject material however an excellent thermal conductor. QTS, an engineered subject material, is appearing just right promise, and it additionally has a just right thermal efficiency and thermal enlargement coefficient.
“The selection of fabrics in GaN without delay pertains to efficiency, price and reliability,” Balakrishnan mentioned. “We select the substrate in order that we will be able to get the bottom price, very best reliability and really excessive efficiency in relation to switching frequency and talent to visit greater voltages.”
Energy Integrations has already introduced a 1,250-V GaN tool. As Balakrishnan mentioned, that may permit the corporate to without delay compete with SiC as much as about 10- to 20-kW persistent ranges.
SiC
In line with onsemi, there are normally two kinds of defects affecting SiC substrates: killer defects and non-killer defects. The 3 spaces the place the defects can originate are substrate, sharpening and epi. Whilst the business has most definitely dissolved lots of the killer defects which might be normally observed within the substrates, the non-killer defects after epi are those that may break out.
“What we’ve got accomplished at onsemi is broaden many algorithm-based display out those units as the fabric progresses throughout the fab,” Sattu mentioned. “Along with that, we’ve got shorter comments loops from the substrate and from the epi standpoint throughout the tool production.”
“We now have already reached superb silicon carbide substrate high quality,” Friedrichs mentioned. “We’re shifting from 150 mm to 200 mm, and with the transition to the brand new wafer diameter, we see an excellent standing relating to defect density.”
In line with Friedrichs, one of the vital key subjects for additional subject material growth is decrease defect densities. The second one subject relating to fabrics is that the mechanical houses of a few trendy wafers are nonetheless extra silicon-like, which means higher flatness, native thickness permutations and subjects we want as a way to use refined applied sciences. This must be the objective for the following steps.
Programs and markets
GaN
“With regards to GaN units for explicit programs, the most important one who we see lately is in server persistent provides,” Taylor mentioned. “Inside the ones knowledge facilities, the server PSU is a chief instance of the place GaN will have an important benefit over silicon.
“That permits us to make use of other topologies that had been now not achievable ahead of with silicon, which permit us to spice up persistent, density and potency inside the ones techniques,” he added.
In line with TI, any other massive marketplace for GaN is sun programs, principally microinverters. GaN too can play a related position in car, with 400-V or 800-V techniques as nicely.
In line with EPC, GaN makes a distinction in more than a few programs, similar to DC/DC converters, car, motor drives and LiDAR techniques. In DC/DC converters, EPC has been essentially curious about 48- to 12-V conversion, having the ability to shrink down converters dramatically when compared with silicon units and reaching very excessive efficiency. Automobile programs come with car electrification.
“For greater voltages, GaN could also be demonstrated to be an excellent tool for LiDAR techniques, the place it achieves enhanced performances and really rapid switching charges that can’t be completed with silicon units,” de Rooij mentioned.
“In motor drives, GaN can transfer them at greater frequency, which yields cleaner sinusoidal excitation of the motor,” he added. “That considerably reduces the torque ripple on motor and will beef up mechanical potency between 11% and 14%. You’ll additionally do away with many huge and hulking elements for filtering and easily use ceramic capacitors.”
“For persistent programs underneath 30 W, we use GaN,” Balakrishnan mentioned. “That applies to merchandise that move into adapters, which is our early use of GaN. Going ahead, we’re the usage of it in client programs. However we will be able to offer merchandise for greater persistent ranges, like a couple of kilowatts.”
Those higher-power programs come with server persistent provides, infrastructure for 5G stations, on-board chargers and DC/DC converters for car. In line with Energy Integrations, any persistent converter underneath 10 or 20 kW can also be addressed with the era we’ve got already advanced. GaN isn’t somewhat in a position to visit higher-power ranges like 100 or 200 kW.
“GaN might be equivalent or lower than silicon inside of possibly one or two years,” Balakrishnan mentioned. “GaN has a shiny long run relative to silicon carbide as the ability ranges move up and is in a position to cope with a number of loads of kilowatts, which is the top marketplace for silicon carbide as of late.”
SiC
In line with onsemi, the primary programs of SiC are in car. Those come with traction inverters, on-board chargers and high-voltage DC/DC converters. Within the business sector, SiC programs come with DC rapid chargers, UPSes, power garage and sun.
For on-board chargers and high-voltage DC/DC converters, excessive persistent density is a should. To satisfy those necessities, onsemi has advanced the M3S SiC MOSFET era that achieves excessive persistent density and excessive switching frequency for car, motor drives, commercial, UPSes, power garage techniques and sun programs.
“The entire programs the place persistent density and excessive potency are extraordinarily necessary are those that have already an overly huge penetration with silicon carbide,” Friedrichs mentioned. “On the other hand, we intend to serve all of the markets all for silicon carbide. Those come with traction propulsion, motor drives, servo motor drives, UPSes and device persistent provides.”
In line with Natarajan, SiC units have energized the ability conversion international. They bring about advantages over silicon units, similar to greater switching frequency, decrease on-resistance and better potency.
“In Qorvo, we’re essentially curious about a extensive set of commercial programs, similar to battery chargers, battery take a look at apparatus, take a look at and size apparatus, renewable power programs like sun inverters, power garage techniques and, after all, electrical cars, charging stations, on-board chargers and DC/DC converters,” Natarajan mentioned.
Those programs are adopting SiC for quite a lot of causes. Information middle persistent providers need to cut back the operational bills of the knowledge middle. EV producers need to rate their vehicles sooner and make their cars lighter. Renewable power programs want so as to run at greater temperatures and feature an extended lifetime and better potency with their merchandise. In line with Natarajan, it’s an exciting time to be in persistent electronics and tool semiconductors, and wide-bandgap units like SiC are paving the way in which.
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