Aiming to Close Supply Chain Gap for Cost-Effective GaN Transistors
IGSS GaN (IGaN) announced a cost-effective and quick prototyping Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) shuttle program designed to advance successful volume production in 200mm silicon. Now, IGaN offers a ‘one-stop solution' approach for GaN-on-Si epiwafers and GaN fab on 200mm platform for power semiconductors with its foundry partner, SilTerra.
Enabling customers' opportunity to tape-out their designs for rapid prototyping, the MPW offers cost reduction through the expense sharing of masks and wafers with other MPW shuttle program partners. This service leverages the increasing demand shift towards GaN devices capable of improving power efficiency conversion up to 50%.
"We believe that the industry is ripe for a transition to GaN devices with various infrastructure coming together making it conducive to new technologies. Today, challenges around reliability have been primarily addressed, paving way for a wider adoption of GaN that is spurred by the increasingly cost-friendly manufacturing capabilities. This is where IGaN completes the supply chain," said George Wong, President of IGaN.
"Our solution will make the 650V E-mode GaN transistor more commonplace, featuring heavily in revolutionized applications spanning automotive HEV/PHEV/EV inverters, onboard battery chargers, consumer electronic inverters, UPS, and VFD motor drive, ac-dc power supplies and VHF small form factor power adapters, all of which needs high-efficiency power conversion," he added.
In its aim to accelerate time-to-market and lower the entry cost for power semiconductor companies, IGaN has invested heavily in research and development of GaN-on-Si E-HEMT transistor device fabrication process, optimizing its growth potential in the current total addressable market (TAM) of USD $32.8B in silicon power applications (Yole Development, Market & Technology Report, November 2018).
IGaN will launch its 200mm MPW service mid-August 2019, facilitating the on-boarding of power semiconductor companies without existing GaN programs to participate and subsequently offer GaN devices. The advantage of 200mm over the competition with 150mm GaN fab platform is the economies of scale - roughly by a factor of two.
