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Navitas Semiconductor announced the launch of its 5th-generation GeneSiC technology platform, built around a new high-voltage silicon carbide Trench-Assisted Planar (TAP) MOSFET architecture. The company said the platform will underpin an industry-leading 1200 V MOSFET family and complements its 4th-generation GeneSiC ultra-high-voltage portfolio at 2300 V and 3300 V, targeting applications such as AI data centers, grid and energy infrastructure, and industrial electrification.
According to Navitas, the 5th-generation platform uses its most compact TAP architecture to combine planar-gate ruggedness with improved performance enabled by a trench structure in the source region. The design focus is to raise efficiency while supporting long-term reliability in high-voltage power conversion.
Navitas said the new 1200 V technology delivers a 35% improvement in the RDS,ON × QGD figure of merit versus the prior-generation 1200 V platform, reducing switching losses and enabling cooler operation and higher switching frequencies. High-speed switching performance is further supported by an approximately 25% improvement in the QGD/QGS ratio. Combined with a stable high threshold voltage specification (VGS,TH ≥ 3 V), the company positions the platform as more immune to parasitic turn-on in high-noise environments.
The 5th-generation technology also targets dynamic performance through an optimized RDS(ON) × EOSS characteristic and adds “Soft Body-Diode” technology intended to improve commutation behavior and reduce electromagnetic interference (EMI) in fast-switching power stages.
For reliability, Navitas said this generation is qualified to an “AEC-Plus” grade for long-term stability in demanding infrastructure applications. The company highlighted extended stress testing for static high-temperature, high-voltage conditions, dynamic reliability tests intended to reflect fast-switching mission profiles, and a focus on threshold voltage stability over prolonged switching stress. Navitas also cited extreme gate oxide reliability, with an extrapolated gate-oxide failure time exceeding 1 million years at operating VGS of 18 V and 175°C, and enhanced cosmic ray robustness aimed at lowering FIT rates for high-uptime environments. Navitas noted that “AEC-Plus” indicates parts exceeding AEC-Q101 and JEDEC standards for reliability testing based on Navitas test results.
“Our customers are redefining the boundaries of power conversion in AI data centers and energy infrastructure, and Navitas is marching along with them in every step of the way,” said Paul Wheeler, VP & GM of Navitas’ SiC Business Unit. “Significant technological improvements in our 5th generation GeneSiC technology underscore Navitas’ commitment to delivering industry-leading performance and reliability in silicon carbide MOSFETs.”
Navitas said a white paper on Trench-Assisted Planar technology is available from the company, and that additional 5th-generation GeneSiC product announcements are expected in the coming months.
Original – Navitas Semiconductor
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Okmetic has entered volume production at its expanded Vantaa fab in Finland. The site focuses on 150–200 mm silicon and bonded silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers, with the expansion significantly increasing 200 mm polished wafer capacity.
“With this expansion, Okmetic strengthens its position as an EU-based, one-stop supplier for 150 to 200 mm silicon wafer platforms serving the MEMS, sensor, RF, and Power markets. The increase in 200 mm polished wafer capacity strengthens long-term supply stability for critical semiconductor applications,” said President and CEO Kai Seikku.
Okmetic produced the first wafers from the expanded fab in June 2025, launching a structured qualification and ramp phase. With volume production now underway in early 2026, the company has started delivering wafers from the expanded capacity to customers, supporting long-term supply readiness across MEMS, RF, Power and GaN-based applications.
The Vantaa expansion is part of Okmetic’s broader plan to more than double capacity by 2030. Construction began in early 2023 and adds more than 40,000 m², including a 6,000 m² cleanroom as well as new crystal growth and wafering areas. Okmetic said the fab upgrade incorporates state-of-the-art equipment with a focus on energy efficiency.
The latest investment builds on prior capacity additions, including the doubling of bonded SOI production capacity between 2017 and 2021 and the introduction of a patterning line for Cavity SOI (C-SOI®) production in 2019. By expanding 200 mm polished wafer output, Okmetic aims to better meet evolving industry demand while reinforcing Europe-based supply of 150–200 mm wafer platforms.
Original – Okmetic
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Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) announced a broad licensing agreement with Renesas Electronics Corporation aimed at accelerating adoption of GaN in high-efficiency power systems.
Under the agreement, Renesas will gain access to EPC’s low-voltage eGaN technology and EPC’s established supply-chain ecosystem. The companies plan to collaborate over the next year to stand up internal wafer fabrication capability for these products. Renesas will also second-source several EPC GaN devices that are already in mass production, a move intended to improve supply-chain resilience and long-term availability for customers.
The partnership is framed around the rising demand for higher efficiency, higher power density, and lower carbon footprints in power conversion, where silicon is increasingly constrained by physical limits. GaN transistors, by contrast, enable faster switching, higher efficiency, and smaller form factors—benefits that are driving architecture shifts from consumer applications to AI data center power.
“Together, EPC and Renesas are forming a global alliance to deliver state-of-the-art power efficiency – cutting costs in AI data centers and enhancing autonomous systems,” said Alex Lidow, CEO of EPC.
Renesas recently expanded its GaN position through the acquisition of Transphorm, strengthening its high-voltage GaN portfolio for applications such as AC-DC power supplies, EV chargers, solar inverters, and industrial motor drives. By adding EPC’s low-voltage eGaN expertise, Renesas aims to broaden its portfolio across low- to high-voltage segments, supporting high-volume opportunities such as AI power architectures from 48 V down to 12 V and 1 V, as well as client computing and battery-powered designs.
“Expanding our business into low-voltage GaN allows us to serve the fastest-growing power segments,” said Rohan Samsi, VP, GaN Business Division at Renesas. “This agreement with EPC complements our established high-voltage 650 V+ portfolio and enables us to capitalize on high-volume markets such as AI power architectures from 48 V down to 12 V and 1 V, as well as client computing and battery-operated applications.”
Original – Efficient Power Conversion
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Infineon Technologies announced that its CoolSiC™ MOSFETs have been adopted in Toyota’s new bZ4X model. The silicon carbide devices are integrated in the vehicle’s on-board charger (OBC) and DC/DC converter, leveraging SiC’s low-loss performance, high thermal capability and high-voltage strength to help extend driving range and reduce charging time.
“We are very proud that Toyota, one of the world’s largest automakers, has chosen Infineon’s CoolSiC technology. Silicon carbide enhances the range, efficiency and performance of electric vehicles and is therefore a very important part of the future of mobility,” said Peter Schaefer, Executive Vice President and Chief Sales Officer Automotive at Infineon. He added that Infineon’s focus on innovation and zero-defect quality supports rising demand for power electronics in electromobility.
Infineon noted that CoolSiC MOSFETs use a trench gate structure that reduces normalized on-resistance and chip size, lowering both conduction and switching losses to improve overall efficiency in automotive power systems. Optimized parasitic capacitance and gate threshold voltage also enable unipolar gate drive, which can simplify drive circuitry in the electric drivetrain while supporting high-density, high-reliability OBC and DC/DC converter designs.
Original – Infineon Technologies
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Navitas Semiconductor introduced a 10 kW DC-DC reference platform designed to accelerate the shift toward high-voltage DC (HVDC) power architectures in AI data centers. The company said the platform reaches up to 98.5% peak efficiency at 1 MHz switching frequency, enabling higher power density for large-scale data center expansion.
The all-GaN design uses advanced 650 V and 100 V GaNFast FETs in a three-level half-bridge topology with synchronous rectification. In a full-brick form factor (61 × 116 × 11 mm), Navitas reports 98.5% peak efficiency and 98.1% full-load efficiency, delivering 2.1 kW/in³ power density.
Navitas positions the platform as production-oriented and compatible with both 800 V–to–50 V and ±400 V–to–50 V architectures at 10 kW. It integrates auxiliary power and control functions to simplify adoption and support compact, high-power-density module designs for next-generation HVDC AI data centers.
“The design platform enables the transition to HVDC data center power infrastructure, supporting the future power requirements of AI workloads that will demand between 100- and even 1,000-times more compute per query,” said Chris Allexandre, President and CEO of Navitas Semiconductor. “Navitas continues to redefine what’s possible in AI data center power, with the 10 kW DC-DC solution giving breakthrough efficiency, power density, and scalability to allow faster and cooler operation while making them more sustainable.”
The 10 kW DC-DC platform is currently being evaluated with key data center customers through collaborative development and is scheduled to debut publicly at APEC in San Antonio, Texas, March 22–26, at the Navitas booth (#2027).
Original – Navitas Semiconductor
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STMicroelectronics announced an expanded strategic collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) through a multi-year, multi-billion USD commercial engagement spanning several product categories. The agreement positions ST as a strategic supplier of semiconductor technologies and products that AWS will integrate into its compute infrastructure to support new high-performance compute instances, lower operational costs, and improved scalability for compute-intensive workloads, including AI and cloud applications.
Under the commercial arrangement, AWS will leverage a broad set of ST proprietary technologies. ST will supply solutions across high-bandwidth connectivity and high-performance mixed-signal processing, microcontrollers for intelligent infrastructure management, and analog and power ICs designed to improve energy efficiency in hyperscale data center operations. The collaboration is intended to help customers reduce total cost of ownership and accelerate time-to-market by addressing increasing requirements for compute performance, efficiency, and data throughput.
“This strategic engagement establishes ST as an important supplier to AWS and validates the strength of our innovation, proprietary technology portfolio, and proven manufacturing-at-scale capabilities,” said Jean-Marc Chery, President and CEO of STMicroelectronics. “Our advanced semiconductor solutions will directly power AWS’s next-generation infrastructure, enabling their customers to push the boundaries of AI, high-performance computing, and digital connectivity.”
As part of the expanded relationship, ST will also work with AWS to optimize electronic design automation (EDA) workloads in the cloud. AWS’s scalable compute capabilities are expected to help accelerate silicon design by enabling parallelized workloads and greater flexibility to match dynamic compute needs.
ST also issued warrants to AWS for the acquisition of up to 24.8 million ordinary shares of ST. The warrants will vest in tranches over the term of the agreement, with vesting substantially tied to payments for ST products and services purchased by AWS and its affiliates. AWS may exercise the warrants over a seven-year period from the issue date at an initial exercise price of $28.38.
Original – STMicroelectronics
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Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) has begun volume production of the EPC2366, the first transistor in its seventh-generation eGaN® platform. Engineered to set a new performance bar, the device delivers up to 3× improvement over equivalent silicon MOSFETs, combining a typical RDS(on) of 0.84 mΩ with an optimized RDS(on) × QG figure of merit of 12.6 mΩ·nC to simultaneously cut conduction and switching losses and improve thermal behavior.
Targeted at high-efficiency, high-density systems, EPC2366 is suited for synchronous rectification, high-density DC-DC conversion, AI server power supplies, and advanced motor drives. It supports 40 V drain-to-source operation and 48 V transients, with continuous drain current up to 88 A and pulsed current to 360 A. Thermal performance is aided by a compact 3.3 × 2.6 mm PQFN package featuring a junction-to-case thermal resistance of 0.6 °C/W.
“We have developed a seventh-generation GaN platform that creates a new state-of-the-art in power transistor performance. The 40 V, EPC2366 is the first of this family to enter mass production. However, EPC is sampling seventh-generation 25 V and 15 V transistors now and expects more mass production transitions in the first half of 2026,” said Alex Lidow, CEO and co-founder of EPC.
To speed evaluation, EPC offers the EPC90167 half-bridge board integrating two EPC2366 devices in a low-parasitic layout. It supports standard PWM drive signals and flexible input modes, providing a practical reference platform for real-world assessments in fast, high-current power stages.
Original – Efficient Power Conversion
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Wolfspeed, Inc. announced that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has cleared the company’s issuance of equity to Renesas Electronics America Inc., completing a central element of Wolfspeed’s previously announced restructuring agreement supporting its Chapter 11 process.
“CFIUS clearance represents the final milestone in the execution of our prepackaged restructuring,” said Robert Feurle, Chief Executive Officer. “With this phase behind us, Wolfspeed is fully focused on broadening and diversifying our customer base, expanding our leadership in SiC power devices, and scaling with discipline across our global manufacturing footprint.”
Under the court-approved plan, Renesas—previously a pre-petition creditor—will convert its outstanding unsecured loan into a mix of equity and secured convertible debt. Following CFIUS approval, Renesas will receive a seat on Wolfspeed’s Board of Directors and has appointed Aris Bolisay, vice president of finance at Renesas.
Given Renesas’ substantial equity position and board representation in a U.S. semiconductor manufacturer, the transaction required CFIUS review and clearance. With authorization now secured, the escrowed shares are cleared for release to Renesas.
In conjunction with this final milestone, Wolfspeed will also release the remaining 2% allocation of common stock to legacy pre-petition equity holders, completing the 5% equity recovery provided under the restructuring plan. The initial 3% was distributed on the plan’s effective date in September, with the remaining 2% held in escrow pending regulatory approvals.
Total share count update: following these issuances, Wolfspeed’s common shares outstanding will increase to approximately 45.1 million. This reflects 16,852,372 shares issued to Renesas, 871,287 shares for the final 2% equity recovery to pre-petition shareholders, and approximately 1.5 million shares issued pursuant to prior conversions of the second-lien convertible notes. This total excludes any future issuances under convertible notes, warrants, or incentive compensation plans.
Original – Wolfspeed
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Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation (VIS) signed a technology licensing agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) covering high-voltage (650 V) and low-voltage (80 V) Gallium Nitride (GaN) processes. The agreement accelerates VIS’s roadmap for next-generation GaN power solutions serving data centers, automotive electronics, industrial control, and energy management—markets that demand high-efficiency power conversion and higher power density.
Under the pact, VIS will broaden its GaN-on-Si offering into high-voltage applications and establish a comprehensive GaN-on-Si platform alongside its existing GaN-on-QST platform, becoming the only foundry able to provide power GaN on both silicon and QST substrates. VIS plans to support a complete product span—low voltage (<200 V), high voltage (650 V), and ultra-high voltage (1200 V)—strengthening its position across critical power segments.
As silicon approaches performance limits in many power designs, GaN’s efficiency, power density, and compact footprint are enabling new architectures. VIS is building a portfolio from 15 V to 1200 V and will integrate the licensed technology with its current platforms. Process validation will run on VIS’s mature 8-inch line to ensure stability and yield, with development starting in early 2026 and production targeted for the first half of 2028.
“This technology licensing agreement not only underscores the engagement and ongoing collaborative efforts between VIS and TSMC, but also represents our continued commitment to advancing a comprehensive power GaN product portfolio and strengthening our strategic position in compound semiconductors,” said Dr. John Wei, President of VIS. “Through this collaboration, we will accelerate our support for customers in high-performance power conversion applications, enabling the semiconductor power technology to move into the next generation and helping realize a future of green energy and intelligent technologies.”
Original – Vanguard International Semiconductor
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Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Institute of Science Tokyo, University of Tsukuba and Quemix Corporation announced a world-first explanation of how hydrogen creates free electrons in silicon through its interaction with specific crystal defects—an advance that can cut power losses in insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) and open pathways for future ultra-wide bandgap devices.
Using first-principles calculations alongside electrical, optical and ESR measurements, the team showed that when hydrogen binds near the I4 defect (an interstitial silicon pair), it shifts the defect’s electronic states to favor electron release; the electron associated with hydrogen moves to the defect, which then emits a free electron.
Mitsubishi Electric also reported technical demonstrations on 1,200 V-class devices showing total power-loss reductions of 10% in IGBTs and 20% in diodes versus its 7th-generation products—performance gains linked to the newly clarified hydrogen mechanism and complementary substrate thinning.
Beyond silicon, initial calculations suggest the approach could help control electron levels in ultra-wide bandgap materials such as diamond and AlN, which are notoriously difficult to dope, potentially benefiting power semiconductors, RF devices and quantum sensors.
The collaborators aim to extend this mechanism to next-generation materials to further improve device efficiency and support decarbonization goals.
Original – Mitsubishi Electric
