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Navitas Semiconductor announced a strategic partnership with Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC or Powerchip), to start production and continue development of best-in-class 200mm GaN-on-silicon technology.
Navitas’ GaN IC portfolio is expected to use Powerchip’s 200mm in Fab 8B, located in Zhunan Science Park, Taiwan. The fab has been operational since 2019 and supports various high-volume manufacturing processes for GaN, ranging from micro-LEDs to RF GaN devices.
Powerchip’s capabilities include an improved 180nm CMOS process, offering smaller and more advanced geometries, which bring improvements in performance, power efficiency, integration, and cost. “200mm GaN-on-silicon production on a 180nm process node enables us to continue innovating higher power density, faster, and more efficient devices while simultaneously improving cost, scale, and manufacturing yields”, said Dr. Sid Sundaresan, SVP of WBG Technology Platforms at Navitas.
Powerchip is expected to manufacture Navitas’ GaN portfolio with voltage ratings from 100V to 650V, supporting the growing demand for GaN for 48V infrastructure, including hyper-scale AI data centers and EVs. Qualification of initial devices is expected in Q4 2025. The 100V family is expected to start production first at Powerchip in 1H26, while the company expects 650V devices will transition from Navitas’ existing supplier, TSMC, to Powerchip over the next 12-24 months.
Navitas recently made several announcements in the AI data center, EV, and solar markets, including its collaboration with NVIDIA to support GaN and SiC technologies for 800V HVDC architectures for 1 MW IT racks and beyond. Enphase announced that its next-generation IQ9 would include Navitas’ 650 V bi-directional GaNFast ICs, and Changan Automobile announced its first commercial GaN-based OBC (on-board charger) using Navitas’ GaNSafe technology.
“We are proud to partner with Powerchip to advance high-volume 200 mm GaN-on-silicon production and look forward to driving continued innovation together in the years ahead”, said Gene Sheridan, CEO and co-founder of Navitas. “Through our partnership with Powerchip, we are well-positioned to drive sustained progress in product performance, technological evolution, and cost efficiency.”
“Powerchip has collaborated with Navitas on GaN-on-Si technology for years, and we’re thrilled to announce that product qualification is nearly complete – bringing us to the verge of mass production”, said Martin Chu, President at Powerchip. “Building on this strong partnership, Powerchip is committed to expanding our cooperation and continuously supporting Navitas in exploring and growing the GaN market.”
Original – Navitas Semiconductor
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Renesas Electronics Corporation introduced three new high-voltage 650V GaN FETs for AI data centers and server power supply systems including the new 800V HVDC architecture, E-mobility charging, UPS battery backup devices, battery energy storage and solar inverters.
Designed for multi-kilowatt-class applications, these 4th-generation plus (Gen IV Plus) devices combine high-efficiency GaN technology with a silicon-compatible gate drive input, significantly reducing switching power loss while retaining the operating simplicity of silicon FETs. Offered in TOLT, TO-247 and TOLL package options, the devices give engineers the flexibility to customize their thermal management and board design for specific power architectures.
The new TP65H030G4PRS, TP65H030G4PWS and TP65H030G4PQS devices leverage the robust SuperGaN® platform, a field-proven depletion mode (d-mode) normally-off architecture pioneered by Transphorm, which was acquired by Renesas in June 2024. Based on low-loss d-mode technology, the devices offer superior efficiency over silicon, silicon carbide (SiC), and other GaN offerings. Moreover, they minimize power loss with lower gate charge, output capacitance, crossover loss, and dynamic resistance impact, with a higher 4V threshold voltage, which is not achievable with today’s enhancement mode (e-mode) GaN devices.
Built on a die that is 14 percent smaller than the previous Gen IV platform, the new Gen IV Plus products achieve a lower RDS(on) of 30 milliohms (mΩ), reducing on-resistance by 14 percent and delivering a 20 percent improvement in on-resistance output-capacitance-product figure of merit (FOM). The smaller die size reduces system costs and lowers output capacitance, which results in higher efficiency and power density. These advantages make the Gen IV Plus devices ideal for cost-conscious, thermally demanding applications where high performance, efficiency and small footprint are critical. They are fully compatible with existing designs for easy upgrades, while preserving existing engineering investments.
Available in compact TOLT, TO-247 and TOLL packages, they provide one of the broadest packaging options to accommodate thermal performance and layout optimization for power systems ranging from 1kW to 10kW, and even higher with paralleling. The new surface-mount packages include bottom side (TOLL) and top-side (TOLT) thermal conduction paths for cooler case temperatures, allowing easier device paralleling when higher conduction currents are needed. Further, the commonly used TO-247 package provides customers with higher thermal capability to achieve higher power.
“The rollout of Gen IV Plus GaN devices marks the first major new product milestone since Renesas’ acquisition of Transphorm last year,” said Primit Parikh, Vice President of the GaN Business Division at Renesas. “Future versions will combine the field-proven SuperGaN technology with our drivers and controllers to deliver complete power solutions. Whether used as standalone FETs or integrated into complete system solution designs with Renesas controllers or drivers, these devices will provide a clear path to designing products with higher power density, reduced footprint and better efficiency at a lower total system cost.”
Like previous d-mode GaN products, the new Renesas devices use an integrated low-voltage silicon MOSFET – a unique configuration that achieves seamless normally-off operation while fully capturing the low loss, high efficiency switching benefits of the high- voltage GaN. As they use silicon FETs for the input stage, the SuperGaN FETs are easy to drive with standard off-the-shelf gate drivers rather than specialized drivers that are normally required for e-mode GaN. This compatibility simplifies design and lowers the barrier to GaN adaptation for system developers.
GaN-based switching devices are quickly growing as key technologies for next-generation power semiconductors, fueled by demand from electric vehicles (EVs), inverters, AI data center servers, renewable energy, and industrial power conversion. Compared to SiC and silicon-based semiconductor switching devices, they provide superior efficiency, higher switching frequency and smaller footprints.
Renesas is uniquely positioned in the GaN market with its comprehensive solutions, offering both high- and low-power GaN FETs, unlike many providers whose success in the field has been primarily limited to lower power devices. This diverse portfolio enables Renesas to serve a broader range of applications and customer needs. To date, Renesas has shipped over 20 million GaN devices for high- and low-power applications, representing more than 300 billion hours of field usage.
The TP65H030G4PRS, TP65H030G4PWS and TP65H030G4PQS are available today, along with the 4.2kW Totem-pole PFC GaN Evaluation Platform (RTDTTP4200W066A-KIT). More information about Renesas’ GaN solutions is available at: renesas.com/gan-fets.
Original – Renesas Electronics
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ROHM has released a 100V power MOSFET – RY7P250BM – optimized for hot-swap circuits in 48V power systems used in AI servers and industrial power supplies requiring battery protection to the market.
As AI technology rapidly advances, data centers are facing unprecedented processing demands and server power consumption continues to increase annually. In particular, the growing use of generative AI and high-performance GPUs has created a need to simultaneously improve power efficiency while supporting higher currents. To address these challenges, the industry is shifting from 12V systems to more efficient 48V power architectures. Furthermore, in hot-swap circuits used to safely replace modules while servers remain powered on, MOSFETs are required that offer both wide SOA (Safe Operating Area) and low ON-resistance to protect against inrush current and overloads.
The RY7P250BM delivers these critical characteristics in a compact 8080-size package, helping to reduce power loss and cooling requirements in data centers while improving overall server reliability and energy efficiency. As the demand for 8080-size MOSFETs grows, this new product provides a drop-in replacement for existing designs. Notably, the RY7P250BM achieves wide SOA (VDS=48V, Pw=1ms/10ms) ideal for hot-swap operation. Power loss and heat generation are also minimized with an industry-leading low ON-resistance of 1.86mΩ (VGS=10V, ID=50A, Tj=25°C), approximately 18% lower than the typical 2.28mΩ of existing wide SOA 100V MOSFETs in the same size.
Wide SOA tolerance is essential in hot-swap circuits, especially those in AI servers that experience large inrush currents. The RY7P250BM meets this demand, achieving 16A at 10ms and 50A at 1ms, enabling support for high-load conditions conventional MOSFETs struggle to handle.
ROHM’s new product has also been certified as a recommended component by leading global cloud platform provider, where it is expected to gain widespread adoption in next-generation AI servers. Especially in server applications where reliability and energy efficiency are mission-critical, the combination of wide SOA and low RDS(on) has been highly evaluated for cloud infrastructure.
Going forward, ROHM will continue to expand its lineup of 48V-compatible power solutions for servers and industrial equipment, contributing to the development of sustainable ICT infrastructure and greater energy savings through high-efficiency, high-reliability products.
Original – ROHM
