News

Transphorm Secures $15 Million Investment from Yaskawa

November 29, 2017 by Paul Shepard

Transphorm Inc. has received a $15 million investment from Yaskawa Electric Corporation. This news comes only a few weeks after Yaskawa revealed its integrated Σ-7 F servo motor relies on Transphorm's high-voltage (HV) GaN to deliver unprecedented performance and power density. Transphorm intends to allocate the funds to various areas of its GaN product development.

"We've seen the benefits of working with gallium nitride from the R&D phases through to the application development phases of our products, such as photovoltaic converters and the integrated Σ-7 F servo motor," said Yukio Tsutsui, General Manager of Corporate R&D Center from Yaskawa. "We look ahead to further developments from Transphorm and its cutting-edge technology."

The integrated  Σ-7 F products resulting from the companies' co-development serves one of the core target markets that can benefit most from HV GaN: servo motors. The technology is also an optimal solution for automotive systems, data center and industrial power supplies, renewable energy and other broad industrial applications.

"Transphorm has consistently prioritized the quality and reliability of our GaN platform," said Dr. Umesh Mishra, Chairman, CTO and co-founder of Transphorm.

"That focus leads to strong customer relationships with visionaries such as Yaskawa and companies that not only innovate, but also influence market growth by demonstrating GaN's real-world impact. Receiving Yaskawa's recent support illustrates the rising confidence in GaN while underscoring its reliability," concluded Mishra.

he Σ-7 F series—AC servo motors in a three-phase bridge configuration—uses Transphorm's HV GaN FETs in a standard three lead TO-220 package.

The topology will be deployed across Yaskawa's full Σ-7 F product line, which currently includes three servo motors ranging from 100W to 400W. The integrated motor allows the industrial manufacturing system to simplify cabling in a daisy chain configuration.

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