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ROHM has developed the new 4-in-1 and 6-in-1 SiC molded modules in the HSDIP20 package optimized for PFC and LLC converters in onboard chargers (OBC) for xEVs (electric vehicles). The lineup includes six models rated at 750V (BSTxxx1P4K01) and seven products rated at 1200V (BSTxxx2P4K01). All basic circuits required for power conversion in various high-power applications are integrated into a compact module package, reducing the design workload for manufacturers and enabling the miniaturization of power conversion circuits in OBCs and other applications.
In recent years, the rapid electrification of cars is driving efforts to achieve a decarbonized society. Electric vehicles are seeing higher battery voltages to extend the cruising range and improve charging speed, creating a demand for higher output from OBCs and DC-DC converters. At the same time, there is an increasing need in the market for greater miniaturization and lighter weight for these applications, requiring technological breakthroughs to improve power density – a key factor – while enhancing heat dissipation characteristics that could otherwise hinder progress.
ROHM’s HSDIP20 package addresses these technical challenges that were previously becoming difficult to overcome with discrete configurations, contributing to both higher output and the downsizing of electric powertrains.
The HSDIP20 features an insulating substrate with excellent heat dissipation properties that suppresses the chip temperature rise even during high power operation. When comparing a typical OBC PFC circuit utilizing six discrete SiC MOSFETs with top-side heat dissipation to ROHM’s 6-in-1 module under the same conditions, the HSDIP20 package was verified to be approx. 38°C cooler (at 25W operation).
This high heat dissipation performance supports high currents even in a compact package, achieving industry-leading power density more than three times higher than top-side cooled discretes and over 1.4 times that of similar DIP type modules. As a result, in the PFC circuit mentioned above, the HSDIP20 can reduce mounting area by approx. 52% compared to top-side cooled discrete configurations, greatly contributing to the miniaturization of power conversion circuits in applications such as OBCs.
Going forward, ROHM will continue to advance the development of SiC modules that balance miniaturization with high efficiency while also focusing on the development of automotive SiC IPMs that provide higher reliability in a smaller form factor.
Original – ROHM
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Navitas Semiconductor announced the release of its latest SiCPAK™ power modules with epoxy-resin potting technology, powered by proprietary trench-assisted planar SiC MOSFET technology, that have been rigorously designed and validated for the most demanding high-power environments, prioritizing reliability and high-temperature performance. Target markets include EV DC fast chargers (DCFC), industrial motor drives, interruptible power supplies (UPS), solar inverters and power optimizers, energy storage systems (ESS), industrial welding, and induction heating.
The new portfolio of 1200V SiCPAK™ power modules, enabled by advanced epoxy-resin potting technology, are engineered to withstand high-humidity environments by preventing moisture ingression and enable stable thermal performance by reducing degradation from power and temperature variations.
Navitas’ SiCPAK™ modules demonstrated 5x lower thermal resistance increase following 1000 cycles of thermal shock testing (-40 C to + 125 C) compared to conventional silicone-gel-filled case-type modules. Furthermore, all silicone-gel-filled modules failed isolation tests while SiCPAK™ epoxy-resin potted modules maintained acceptable isolation levels.
Enabled by over 20 years of SiC innovation leadership, Navitas’ GeneSiC™ ‘trench-assisted planar SiC MOSFET technology’ provides industry-leading performance over temperature, enabling up to 20% lower losses, cooler operation, and superior robustness to support long-term system reliability.
The ‘trench-assisted planar’ technology enables an extremely low RDS(ON) increase versus temperature, which results in the lowest power losses across a wider operating range and offers up to 20% lower RDS(ON) under in-circuit operation at high temperatures compared to competition. Additionally, all GeneSiC™ SiC MOSFETs have the highest-published 100%-tested avalanche capability, up to 30% better short-circuit withstand energy, and tight threshold voltage distributions for easy paralleling.
The 1200V SiCPAK™ power modules have built-in NTC thermistors and are available from 4.6 mΩ to 18.5 mΩ ratings in half-bridge, full-bridge, and 3L-T-NPC circuit configurations. They are pin-to-pin compatible with industry-standard press-fit modules. Additionally, optional pre-applied Thermal Interface Material (TIM) for simplified assembly is available.
Original – Navitas Semiconductor
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Polar Semiconductor announced the finalization of a strategic agreement with Renesas Electronics Corporation to license their Gallium Nitride on Silicon D-Mode (GaN-on-Si) technology. As part of this agreement, Polar will fabricate High Voltage 650V Class GaN-on-Si devices for Renesas and other customers in its 200mm automotive quality high-volume manufacturing facility in Minnesota. This facility, recently expanded with state-of-the-art processing and automation equipment, is poised to meet growing demand for next-generation semiconductor solutions.
Polar and Renesas will work together to scale commercial production of GaN devices, expanding its use across critical industries, including automotive, data center, consumer, industrial, and aerospace & defense markets. The agreement ensures the U.S. has a reliable, domestic source for this cutting-edge semiconductor technology.
Market adoption of GaN technology will be accelerated through cost efficiency and innovative device architectures enabled by scaling to 200mm fabrication. By leveraging Polar’s manufacturing expertise and Renesas’ proven power semiconductor technology and commercial leadership, this strategic collaboration ensures customers a secure supply of cost-competitive, superior quality, and high-performance GaN device wafers.
Surya Iyer, President and COO of Polar Semiconductor, said, “This licensing and commercial production agreement underscores our commitment to strengthening the domestic semiconductor ecosystem. GaN is a game-changing technology for Power and RF, and with Renesas as our partner, we are well-positioned to ramp commercial production, secure key defense programs, and drive the next wave of semiconductor innovation.”
“We are excited to partner with Polar to scale our proven GaN technology to 200mm wafers and leverage our know-how across broad power conversion markets ranging from Infrastructure & AI to Energy & Industrial to e-Mobility & xEVs to high-value IoT,” said Chris Allexandre, SVP & GM, Power Products Group, at Renesas. “This collaboration ensures a strong, U.S.-based manufacturing capability for GaN products, provides multi-sourcing to our customers, and meets the growing demand for high-performance power solutions.”
Original – Polar Semiconductor
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Mitsubishi Electric Corporation announced that it will begin shipping samples of two new SLIMDIP series power semiconductor modules for room air conditioners and other home appliances, the Full SiC (silicon carbide) SLIMDIP (PSF15SG1G6) and the Hybrid SiC SLIMDIP (PSH15SG1G6), on April 22.
Both modules, the first SiC versions in the company’s SLIMDIP series of compact, terminal-optimized modules, achieve excellent output and power loss reduction for energy savings in small- to large-capacity appliances. They will be exhibited at Power Conversion Intelligent Motion (PCIM) Expo & Conference 2025 in Nuremberg, Germany from May 6 to 8, as well as trade shows in Japan, China and other countries.
Mitsubishi Electric’s newly developed silicon carbide metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (SiC-MOSFET) chip is incorporated into both new SLIMDIP packages. Compared to current silicon (Si)-based reverse-conducting insulated-gate bipolar transistor (RC-IGBT) SLIMDIP modules, these new SiC modules achieve higher output for larger-capacity appliances. Additionally, compared to the Si-based module, power loss is reduced by 79% with the Full SiC SLIMDIP and by 47% with the Hybrid SiC SLIMDIP for more energy-efficient appliances.
With these two new modules as well as existing Si-based RC-IGBT SLIMDIP modules, the SLIMDIP series now offers three options for use in inverter boards of appliances such as room air conditioners, each one suited to specific electrical capacity and performance needs, but all offered in the same package to help reduce the burden of designing inverter substrates.
Original – Mitsubishi Electric
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Navitas Semiconductor has announced its high-power GaNSafe™ ICs achieve automotive qualification for both AEC-Q100 and AEC-Q101, showcasing GaN’s next inflection into the automotive market.
Navitas high-power GaNSafe 4th generation family integrates control, drive, sensing, and critical protection features that enable unprecedented reliability and robustness in high-power applications. It is the world’s safest GaN with short-circuit protection (350ns max latency), 2kV ESD protection on all pins, elimination of negative gate drive, and programmable slew rate control. All these features are controlled with 4-pins, allowing the package to be treated like a discrete GaN FET, requiring no VCC pin.
The Automotive Electronics Council (AEC) lists various qualifications focused on failure mechanism-based stress tests for packaged integrated circuits (AEC-Q100) and discrete semiconductors (AEC-Q101) used in automotive applications. Navitas’ GaNSafe™ has been qualified to both standards to ensure that both the discrete power FET stage and the combined IC solution meet these stringent specifications.
To support the qualification, Navitas has created a comprehensive reliability report that analyzes over 7 years of production and field data. It demonstrates their track record, alongside generational and family improvements in robustness and reliability, establishing GaN power ICs as highly reliable and automotive-ready. This reliability report is available to qualified customers.
Additionally in March 2025, Navitas unveiled the world’s first production released 650V Bi-Directional GaNFast ICs with IsoFast Drivers, creating a paradigm shift in power to enable the transition from two-stage to single-stage topologies to further enhance efficiency, power density, and performance in AC-DC and AC-AC conversion. This would allow next-generation single-stage OBCs to provide bi-directional charging in a high-efficiency, extremely compact solution – which eliminates bulky capacitors and input inductors.
A leading EV and solar micro-inverter manufacturer have already begun their implementation of single-stage BDS converters to improve efficiency, size, and cost in their systems. GaNFast-enabled single-stage BDS converters achieve up to 10% cost savings, 20% energy savings, and up to 50% size reductions.
“Our latest reliability report is the culmination of years of innovation and field experience,” said Gene Sheridan, CEO and co-founder of Navitas. “With more than 250 million units shipped, over 2 trillion field devices hours and a cumulative field failure rate that is now approaching 100 parts per billion, we’re leading the charge in making GaN the go-to technology for EV power systems.”
Original – Navitas Semiconductor
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Infineon Technologies AG has introduced the world’s first gallium nitride (GaN) power transistors with integrated Schottky diode for industrial use. The product family of medium-voltage CoolGaN™ Transistors G5 with integrated Schottky diode increases the performance of power systems by reducing undesired deadtime losses, thereby further increasing overall system efficiency. Additionally, the integrated solution simplifies the power stage design and reduces BOM cost.
In hard-switching applications, GaN-based topologies may incur higher power losses due to the larger effective body diode voltage (V SD) of GaN devices. This gets worse with long controller dead-times, resulting in lower efficiency than targeted. Until now, power design engineers often require an external Schottky diode in parallel with the GaN transistor or try to reduce dead-times via their controllers. All of which is extra effort, time and cost. The new CoolGaN Transistor G5 from Infineon significantly reduces these challenges by offering a GaN transistor with an integrated Schottky diode appropriate for use in server and telecom IBCs, DC-DC converters, synchronous rectifiers for USB-C battery chargers, high-power PSUs, and motor drives.
“As gallium nitride technology becomes increasingly widespread in power designs, Infineon recognizes the need for continuous improvement and enhancement to meet the evolving demands of customers”, says Antoine Jalabert, Vice President of Infineon’s Medium-Voltage GaN Product Line, “The CoolGaN Transistor G5 with Schottky diode exemplifies Infineon’s dedication to an accelerated innovation-to-customer approach to further push the boundaries of what is possible with wide-bandgap semiconductor materials.“
GaN transistor reverse conduction voltage (V RC) is dependent on the threshold voltage (V TH) and the OFF-state gate bias (V GS) due to the lack of body diode. Moreover, the V TH of a GaN transistor is typically higher than the turn-on voltage of a silicon diode leading to a disadvantage during the reverse conduction operation, also known as third quadrant. Hence, with this new CoolGaN Transistor, reverse conduction losses are lower, compatibility with a wider range of high-side gate drivers, and with deadtime relaxed, there is broader controller compatibility resulting in simpler design.
The first of several GaN transistors with integrated Schottky diode is the 100 V 1.5 mΩ transistor in 3 x 5 mm PQFN package.
Original – Infineon Technologies
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IQE plc, the leading global supplier of compound semiconductor wafer products and advanced material solutions, and X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE announced a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) to create a European-based GaN Power device platform solution.
With an initial two-year scope of work, IQE and X-FAB will collaborate to develop a 650V GaN device. The agreement will leverage IQE’s GaN epitaxy design and process expertise, along with X-FAB’s proven technology development and device fabrication capabilities to offer an optimized technology-substrate combination for automotive, data center and consumer applications.
This collaboration will provide fabless semiconductor companies with a leading-edge, off-the-shelf GaN platform accelerating their innovation cycles and time-to-market. The technology will also serve as a foundation for future product development, extending beyond 650V to address the growing market demand for Power Electronics.
Jutta Meier, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of IQE, comments: “We are excited to join forces with X-FAB to develop a world-class GaN power foundry solution in Europe, providing outsourced optionality for our fabless customers. Building on our GaN epitaxy expertise and recent investment in additional GaN reactor capacity, this agreement aligns with our GaN diversification strategy, expands our customer reach, and accelerates time-to-market for GaN power applications.”
“By combining our long-standing expertise in GaN device fabrication and design enablement with IQE’s epitaxy leadership, we are creating a unique, turnkey GaN Power platform,” explains Jörg Doblaski, Chief Technology Officer at X-FAB. “In addition to our existing GaN technology, this collaboration provides a compelling alternative to existing supply chain models and strengthens Europe’s position in next-generation power semiconductor technology.”
Original – X-FAB Silicon Foundries
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STMicroelectronics N.V. disclosed further elements of its program to reshape its global manufacturing footprint. This comes as part of the program announced in October 2024 to further strengthen ST’s competitiveness, solidify its position as a global semiconductor leader, and ensure the long-term sustainability of its model as an Integrated Device Manufacturer by leveraging strategic assets globally across technology R&D, design and high-volume manufacturing.
Jean-Marc Chery, President and CEO of STMicroelectronics said: “The reshaping of our manufacturing footprint announced today will future proof our Integrated Device Manufacturer model with strategic assets in Europe and improve our ability to innovate even faster, benefitting all our stakeholders. As we focus on advanced manufacturing infrastructure and mainstream technologies, we will continue to leverage all of our existing sites and bring redefined missions for some of them to support their long-term success. We are committed to managing this program responsibly, according to our long-established values, and exclusively through voluntary measures. The technology R&D, design, and high-volume manufacturing activities in Italy and France will continue to be central to our global operations and will be reinforced via planned investments in mainstream technologies”.
Innovating and scaling up to increase efficiency across manufacturing operations
As innovation cycles shorten, ST’s manufacturing strategy is evolving to accelerate the delivery of innovative, proprietary technologies and products at scale to customers globally, across automotive, industrial, personal electronics and communication infrastructure applications.The reshaping and modernization of ST’s manufacturing operations aim to achieve two main objectives: prioritizing planned investments towards future-ready infrastructure such as 300mm silicon and 200mm silicon carbide wafer fabs to enable them to reach a critical scale and maximizing the productivity and efficiency of legacy 150mm capabilities and mature 200mm capabilities. In parallel, ST plans to continue to invest in upgrading the technology used across its operations, deploying additional AI and automation for additional efficiency in technology R&D, manufacturing, reliability and qualification processes, with a continued focus on sustainability.
Strengthening ST’s manufacturing ecosystem
Over the next three years, the reshaping of ST’s manufacturing footprint will design and strengthen ST’s complementary ecosystems: in France around digital technologies, in Italy around analog and power technologies and in Singapore on mature technologies. The optimization of these operations aim to achieve full capacity utilization and drive technological differentiation to compete globally. As announced previously, each of ST’s current sites will continue to play a long-term role within the company’s global operations.Building 300mm silicon megafabs in Agrate and Crolles
The Agrate (Italy) 300mm fab will continue to be scaled up, with the aim to become ST’s flagship high-volume manufacturing facility for smart power and mixed signal technologies. The plan is to double its current capacity to 4,000 wafers per week (wpw) by 2027, with planned modular expansions increasing capacity up to 14,000 wpw, depending on market conditions. As we increase our focus on 300mm manufacturing, the Agrate 200mm fab will refocus on MEMS.The Crolles (France) 300mm fab will be further cemented as the core of ST’s digital products ecosystem. The plan is to increase capacity to 14,000 wpw by 2027 with planned modular expansions increasing capacity up to 20,000 wpw, depending on market conditions. In addition, we will convert the Crolles 200mm fab to support Electrical Wafer Sorting high volume manufacturing and advanced packaging technologies, hosting activities that do not exist today in Europe. The focus will be on next-generation leading technologies including optical sensing and silicon photonics.
Specialized Manufacturing and Competence Center for Power Electronics in Catania
Catania will continue to serve as a center of excellence for power and wide-bandgap semiconductor devices. The development of the new Silicon Carbide Campus is progressing as planned, with production of 200mm wafers set to begin in Q4 2025, reinforcing ST’s leadership in next-generation power technologies. Our resources supporting Catania’s current 150mm and EWS capabilities will be refocused on 200mm silicon carbide and silicon power semiconductor production, including GaN-on-silicon, reinforcing ST’s leadership in next-generation power technologies.Optimizing Other Manufacturing Sites
Rousset (France) will remain focused on 200mm manufacturing, with additional volumes reallocated from other sites enabling full saturation of existing manufacturing capacity for optimized efficiency.Tours (France) will remain focused on its 200mm silicon production line for select technologies, while other activities – including legacy 150mm manufacturing activities – will be transferred to different ST sites, and it will also remain a center of competence for GaN, mainly on epitaxy. The Tours site will also host a new activity: panel-level-packaging, one of the major enablers of chiplets, a technology for complex semiconductor applications that will be key for ST in the future.
Ang Mo Kio (Singapore), ST’s high-volume fab for mature technologies, will remain focused on 200mm silicon manufacturing and will also host our consolidated global legacy 150mm silicon capabilities.
Kirkop (Malta), ST’s high-volume test and packaging fab in Europe will be upgraded, with the addition of advanced automated technologies which will be key to support next-generation products.
Workforce and skills evolution
As ST reshapes its manufacturing footprint over the next three years, the workforce size and required skill sets will evolve. Advanced manufacturing will shift roles from legacy processes involving repetitive manual tasks to a stronger focus on process control, automation, and design. ST will manage this transition through voluntary measures, with a continued commitment to ongoing constructive dialogue and negotiations with employee representatives in accordance with applicable national regulations. Based on current projections, the program is expected to see up to 2,800 people leaving the company globally on a voluntary basis, on top of normal attrition. These changes are expected to occur mainly in 2026 and 2027. Regular updates will be provided to stakeholders as the program progresses.Original – STMicroelectronics
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STMicroelectronics and Innoscience announced the signature of an agreement on GaN technology development and manufacturing, leveraging the strengths of each company to enhance GaN power solutions and supply chain resilience.
The companies have agreed on a joint development initiative on GaN power technology, to advance the promising future of GaN power for consumer electronics, datacenters, automotive and industrial power systems and many more applications in the coming years. In addition, the agreement allows Innoscience to utilize ST’s front-end manufacturing capacity outside China for its GaN wafers, while ST can leverage Innoscience’s front-end manufacturing capacity in China for its own GaN wafers. The common ambition is for each company to expand their individual offering in GaN with supply chain flexibility and resilience to cover all customers’ requirements in a wide range of applications.
Marco Cassis, President, Analog, Power & Discrete, MEMS and Sensors of STMicroelectronics declared: “ST and Innoscience are both Integrated Device Manufacturers, and with this agreement we will leverage this model to the benefit of our customers globally. First, ST will be accelerating its roadmap in GaN power technology to complement its silicon and silicon carbide offering. Second, ST will be able to leverage a flexible manufacturing model to serve customers globally.”
Dr. Weiwei Luo, Chairman and Founder of Innoscience, stated “GaN technology is essential to improve electronics, creating smaller and more efficient systems which save electric power, lower cost, and reduce CO2 Emissions. Innoscience pioneered mass production of 8-inch GaN technology and has shipped over 1 billion GaN devices into multiple markets, and we are very excited to move into strategic collaboration with ST. The joint collaboration between ST and Innoscience will further expand and accelerate the adoption of GaN technology. Together the teams at Innoscience and ST will develop the next generations of GaN technology”.
GaN power devices leverage fundamental material properties that enable new standards of system performance in power conversion, motion control, and actuation, offering significantly lower losses, which allows for enhanced efficiency, smaller size, and lighter weight, thus reducing the overall solution cost and carbon footprint; these devices are rapidly being adopted in consumer electronics, data center and industrial power supplies, and solar inverters, and are being actively designed into next-generation EV powertrains due to their substantial size and weight reduction benefits.
Original – STMicroelectronics
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GaN / LATEST NEWS / PRODUCT & TECHNOLOGY / TOP STORIES / WBGMazda and ROHM Collaborate to Develop Automotive Components Utilizing Next-Generation Semiconductors
March 28, 2025
3 Min ReadMazda Motor Corporation and ROHM Co., Ltd. have commenced joint development of automotive components using gallium nitride (GaN) power semiconductors, which are expected to be the next-generation semiconductors.
Since 2022, Mazda and ROHM have been advancing the joint development of inverters using silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductors under a collaborative framework for the development and production of electric drive units. Now, they have also embarked on the development of automotive components using GaN power semiconductors, aiming to create innovative automotive components for next-generation electric vehicles.
GaN is attracting attention as a next-generation material for power semiconductors. Compared to conventional silicon (Si) power semiconductors, GaN can reduce power conversion losses and contribute to the miniaturization of components through high-frequency operation.
Both companies will collaborate to transform these strengths into a package that considers the entire vehicle, and into solutions that innovate in weight reduction and design. Mazda and ROHM aim to materialize the concept and unveil a demonstration model within FY2025, with practical implementation targeted for FY2027.
“As the shift towards electrification accelerates in pursuit of carbon neutrality, we are delighted to collaborate with ROHM, which aims to create a sustainable mobility society with its outstanding semiconductor technology and advanced system solution capabilities, in the development and production of automotive components for electric vehicles” said Ichiro Hirose, Director, Senior Managing Executive Officer and CTO of Mazda. “We are excited to work together to create a new value chain that directly connects semiconductor devices and cars. Through collaboration with partners who share our vision, Mazda will continue to deliver products filled with the ‘joy of driving’ that allows customers to truly enjoy driving, even in electric vehicles.”
“We are very pleased to collaborate with Mazda, which pursues the ‘joy of driving,’ in the development of automotive components for electric vehicles” said Katsumi Azuma, Member of the board and Senior Managing Executive Officer of ROHM. “ROHM’s EcoGaN™, capable of high-frequency operation, and the control IC that maximizes its performance are key to miniaturization and energy-saving. To implement this in society, collaboration with a wide range of companies is essential, and we have established various partnerships for the development and mass production of GaN. By collaborating with Mazda, which aims to create ‘cars that coexist sustainably with the earth and society,’ we will understand the requirements for GaN from the perspective of application and final product development, contributing to the spread of GaN power semiconductors and the creation of a sustainable mobility society.”
Original – ROHM
