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Infineon Technologies AG expanded the lawsuit pending before the District Court for the Northern District of California on 23 July 2024, adding claims against Innoscience (Zhuhai) Technology Company, Ltd., and Innoscience America, Inc. and affiliates based on the infringement of three additional patents referring to gallium nitride (GaN) technology owned by Infineon. In addition, Infineon today filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) containing legal claims referring to the same four patents covered by the lawsuit.
Infineon seeks a permanent injunction for the infringement of United States patents referring to gallium nitride (GaN) technology owned by Infineon. The patent claims cover core aspects of GaN power semiconductors encompassing innovations that enable performance and reliability of Infineon’s proprietary GaN power transistors.
Already, on 14 March 2024, Infineon filed a patent infringement suit against Innoscience in the United States with the District Court for the Northern District of California. On 4 June 2024, Infineon filed a corresponding lawsuit with the District Court Munich, Germany. Additional lawsuits were filed against distributors of Innoscience in Germany.
Furthermore, Infineon successfully filed for a preliminary injunction (court order), which the District Court Munich issued on 12 June 2024. According to this court order Innoscience was obligated to remove all infringing product from their booth at the international power electronics trade show PCIM Europe.
Infineon leads the industry with its GaN patent portfolio, comprising approximately 350 patent families. Infineon’s portfolio of silicon, silicon carbide, gallium nitride power transistors and complementary drivers and controllers was enhanced with the October 2023 acquisition of GaN Systems Inc. The acquisition boosted Infineon’s GaN offering and further expanded its leading position in power semiconductors.
Original – Infineon Technologies
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Infineon Technologies AG announced that its CoolSiC™ 2000 V modules have been selected by Daihen Corporation for their innovative unit-type power conditioners for grid storage batteries. In the journey towards reducing carbon emissions, both grid storage batteries and the power conditioners that are linked to them play a vital role in facilitating the wider adoption of renewable energy sources like solar and wind power generation.
There has been an increasing demand for higher voltage storage batteries and power conditioners to enhance the effectiveness of power generation, storage, and transmission. Moreover, with the expansion of storage battery systems on a larger scale, finding suitable locations and minimizing construction costs have emerged as significant challenges.
The unit-type power conditioner for grid storage batteries launched by Daihen in March 2024 is the first product in the industry to achieve connection to storage batteries at a high DC link voltage of 1500 V. The higher voltage enables the product to be used with large-capacity storage battery facilities, which has resulted in a 40% reduction in the footprint of grid storage batteries compared to the conventional product.
The high power density is achieved by using Infineon’s 62 mm CoolSiC MOSFET 2000 V module (FF3MR20KM1H). In addition to the characteristics of SiC that enable high voltage, better thermal dissipation and high power density, Infineon’s SiC products feature M1H trench technology that increases the gate drive voltage range and provides high robustness and reliability against gate voltage spikes. Infineon was the pioneer in the industry to introduce the 2000 V class for a SiC module. This innovation has been instrumental in simplifying the inverter circuit configuration. Furthermore, the optimized 62 mm package has led to a substantial reduction in system size, contributing to enhanced efficiency and performance.
Mr. Akihiro Ohori, General Manager, Development Department, Energy Management System Division, Daihen, said, “In order to increase the voltage of power conditioners, the circuit configuration of conventional 1200 V devices had become complicated. However, by adopting Infineon’s 2000 V SiC modules, we were able to achieve a simplified circuit configuration and control design, thereby reducing development resources and the footprint.”
Masanori Fujimori, Marketing Director of the Industrial & Infrastructure Segment at Infineon Technologies Japan, said, “We are very pleased that our pioneering CoolSiC 2000 V module has contributed to the development of the industry’s highest power density power conditioners for grid storage batteries. We believe that Infineon’s SiC technology will address the need for higher efficiency in energy storage systems and will greatly contribute to the growth of renewable energy.”
Original – Infineon Technologies
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Infineon Technologies AG has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Amkor Technology, Inc. with a joint commitment to stimulate decarbonization and sustainability strategies across the supply chain.
Expanding their partnership towards sustainability is the next step in the sustainability journey of both companies. Infineon and Amkor intend to fully leverage their classical Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) business relationship in order to effectively tackle emissions along their supply chain. In April, both companies announced to operate a dedicated packaging and test center at Amkor’s manufacturing site in Porto, Portugal.
As part of the cooperation for climate protection, Infineon and Amkor will actively engage with common suppliers to help them develop and implement effective decarbonization strategies. This will involve workshops, meetings, and the sharing of best practices and learnings related to decarbonization. The aim is to identify areas for improvement and support suppliers in setting science-based emissions reduction targets in line with the Science Based Targets initiative. Both companies are committed to providing ongoing guidance, fostering exchange, and tracking progress to drive continuous improvement across the common supply chain.
“Infineon has made excellent progress towards its aim to become CO 2-neutral for scope 1 and 2 by 2030, as the company more than halved its emissions while doubling the revenue since 2019. Supply-chain-related Scope-3-emissions represent the highest share of total emissions at Infineon and are the hardest ones to minimize,” said Angelique van der Burg, Chief Procurement Officer at Infineon. “That makes it even more important to include them in our efforts. But no one can do it alone. We need to actively collaborate and drive innovation with our suppliers if we want to effectively reduce CO 2 emissions. This is of ample importance not only for Infineon and Amkor, but also for society at large. Therefore, we are happy to join forces with Amkor on this.”
“Amkor is excited to deepen its partnership with Infineon through this strategic collaboration. Addressing Scope 3 is the most challenging part of the decarbonization journey, and we anticipate mutual benefits from this collective work in undertaking the challenge,” said Giel Rutten, President and Chief Executive Officer of Amkor. “This initiative is pivotal in achieving Amkor’s goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 by strengthening supply chain engagement through joint efforts. We look forward to collaborating with suppliers and invite them to join our endeavor to set ambitious science-based targets. Together, we are committed to driving positive environmental impact across our value chain.”
To support Infineon’s science-based target commitment and enhance the collaboration with suppliers, Infineon introduced a supplier engagement program in 2023. Since then, the company has been working with more than a hundred suppliers to set and implement science-based targets. The partnership between Amkor and Infineon provides an impetus for the strategy of both companies to make science-based targets the standard for ambitious climate strategies in the semiconductor industry.
Original – Infineon Technologies
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Infineon Technologies AG introduced the new CoolGaN™ Transistor 700 V G4 product family. The devices are highly efficient for power conversion in the voltage range up to 700 V. In contrast to other GaN products on the market, the input and output figures-of-merit of these transistors provide a 20 percent better performance, resulting in increased efficiency, reduced power losses, and more cost-effective solutions. The combination of electrical characteristics and packaging ensures maximum performance in many applications such as consumer chargers and notebook adapters, data center power supplies, renewable energy inverters, and battery storage.
The product series comprises 13 devices with a voltage rating of 700 V and on-resistance range from 20 mΩ to 315 mΩ. The increased granularity in device specification, combined with a wide range of industry standard package options including PDFN, TOLL and TOLT allow R DS resistance and packages to be selected according to application requirements. As a result, both electrical and thermal system performance can be optimized and implemented in the most cost-effective solution.
The devices are characterized by a fast turn-on and turn-off speed and minimal switching losses. The on-resistance range enables power systems from 20 W to 25,000 W. In addition, the 700 V E-mode with the industry’s highest transient voltage of 850 V increases the reliability of the overall system as it offers greater robustness against anomalies in the user environment such as voltage peaks.
The CoolGaN Transistor 700 V G4 products in TOLL, PDFN 5×6 and 8×8 packages are available now, more variety in R DS(on) as well as the TOLT package will follow later this year.
Original – Infineon Technologies
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Infineon Technologies AG received the German Brand Award in the renowned “Best of Category” as “Excellent Brands – Corporate Brand of the Year”. The German Council of Design recognizes Infineon’s exceptional brand development, highlighting the company’s dedication to establishing a consistent brand that harmonizes seamlessly with its corporate strategy.
“To receive the German Brand Award as Corporate Brand of the Year is a special recognition for Infineon’s brand development over the past years,” said Andreas Urschitz, Member of the Management Board and Chief Marketing Officer of Infineon. “We are a global technology and thought leader with a clear vision and decisive actions. As a company, we are dedicated to driving decarbonization and digitalization through our solutions and in our business areas, together with our customers and partners. This commitment is deeply rooted in our corporate strategy, our brand, and within the entire global Infineon team.”
The award underlines Infineon’s commitment to excellence and innovation in brand strategy and design. It also reflects a strategic and decisive approach in the brand and corporate strategy, which ultimately enhances the company’s market presence with its audience.
The jury of the German Brand Award, which consists of members of the German Council of Design, acknowledged Infineon’s brand identity that resonates with its target audience while continuously staying true to its core values and vision.
The jury’s statement states: “Infineon has been a strong brand for 25 years – and also ‘Corporate Brand of the Year’ in 2024. The semiconductor manufacturer has decisively developed its strategy and design to link the brand even more closely with the corporate strategy. The close integration, including vision, mission and values, is exemplary and contributes to an outstanding positioning. Only a few companies in the competitive arena have such a consistent and distinctive brand. The dedicated 360-degree brand development and, above all, implementation is credible and has a high unique selling point.”
The German Brand Award is the award for successful brand management, initiated by Germany’s design and brand authority. Judged by a top-tier jury of experts from brand management and brand science, the German Brand Award discovers, presents and honors unique brands and brand makers.
Original – Infineon Technology
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Infineon Technologies AG is expanding its portfolio of next-generation OptiMOS™ 7 MOSFETs for automotive applications: the portfolio of 40 V products now includes additional devices in robust, lead-free packages. In addition, 80 V and 100 V OptiMOS 7 MOSFETs are now also available.
The MOSFETs are optimized for all standard and future automotive 48 V applications, including electric power steering, braking systems, power switches in new zone architectures, battery management, e-fuse boxes, DC/DC, and BLDC drives in various 12 V and 48 V electrical system applications. They are also suitable for other transportation applications such as light electric vehicles (LEV), e2wheelers, eScooters, eMotorcycles, and commercial and agricultural vehicles (CAV).
“As a technology leader in power semiconductors, Infineon is committed to shape the future technology standards in automotive power MOSFETs in terms of power efficiency, innovative and robust power packaging with high quality,” said Axel Hahn, Senior Vice President and General Manager Automotive LV MOSFETs of Infineon. “We are providing our customers a diverse product portfolio and are addressing all their requirements to drive the development of modern automotive applications.”
By combining 300 mm thin-wafer technology and innovative packaging, the new OptiMOS 7 technology enables significant performance advantages in all available voltage classes. As a result, the components are now available in various rugged automotive power packages, including Single SSO8 (5×6), Dual SSO8 (5×6), mTOLG (8×8) and sTOLL (7×8).
The family offers high power density and energy efficiency with the industry’s lowest on-state resistance (e.g. 1.3 mΩ max in a single SSO8 (5×6) 80V package) in the smallest form factor. The devices also offer reduced switching losses, improved Safe Operating Area (SOA) robustness and high avalanche current capability. With this, they enable a highly efficient system design for tomorrow’s automotive applications.
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Infineon Technologies AG introduced Power System Reliability Modeling, an innovative solution addressing the increasing challenges faced by data centers and telecom infrastructures due to power supply failures in the system.
With 39 percent of downtimes attributed to power outages and an average cost of $687,700 per downtime, the need for seamless operations and mitigation of financial impact is urgent. By integrating Infineon’s power monitoring solution, organizations can enhance operational resilience, reduce their carbon-footprint and achieve substantial cost savings.
The offering consists of an algorithm running on a digital power controller, thus integrating software and hardware. This is in line with Infineon’s strategic approach to provide customers with comprehensive system solutions that include both semiconductor devices and matching software tools. Target applications of the solution include DCDC converters, ACDC rectifiers and IBC modules utilized in data centers, AI servers, GPUs, and telecom networks.
Power System Reliability Modeling acts as a bridge between component and system reliability. It enables real-time power supply health monitoring of the system and lifetime estimation based on dynamic system operating parameters, a power supply system model, and a reliability prediction procedure in digital power controllers by Infineon.
This solution ensures improved device utilization and data-driven maintenance recommendations, translating into enhanced profitability and reduced Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Customers benefit from real-time system diagnostics for their power supply as well as powerful system reliability-based decisions and quality assurance. The solution is easy to use and integrate into existing designs.
“The Power System Reliability Modeling represents a pivotal step for Infineon and its customers towards reliable and stable power supply in data centers,” said Adam White, Division President Power & Sensor Systems at Infineon. “Following our Product to System approach, the solution focuses on delivering hardware integrated with advanced software capabilities. This approach not only expands product capabilities and scope, but also empowers our customers to create more value and scale their operations faster.”
Further information about the solution is available at www.infineon.com/reliabilitymodeling.
Original – Infineon Technologies
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Infineon Technologies AG will provide customers with comprehensive Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) data, taking a pioneering role in the semiconductor industry. The company is committed to eventually providing PCF data for its entire product portfolio, starting now with about half of its portfolio.
The initiative will empower customers to advance their own sustainability goals and reduce their carbon footprint effectively along the entire supply chain. The Product Carbon Footprint is a metric that quantifies the greenhouse gas emissions associated with an individual product, allowing the comparison of different products’ climate impact. Infineon will share more insights with customers at the upcoming PCIM trade fair in Nuremberg, Germany, from 11 to 13 June 2024.
“By providing comprehensive Product Carbon Footprint data, we are driving the vision of a net-zero society and empowering our customers to reduce carbon emissions even more effectively,” says Elke Reichart, Member of the Management Board and Chief Digital and Sustainability Officer at Infineon. “Infineon is taking a leading role in carbon transparency by committing to include the entire product portfolio over the coming years. This underlines our ambition to be a leader not only in terms of technology, but also sustainability.”
The specific data Infineon provides on its individual products is essential for the growing number of customers who want to increase transparency on their own carbon footprint. Moreover, it supports informed decision making to leverage additional potential for reducing emissions along the value chain.
In the absence of established industry standards, Infineon has developed a robust methodology to calculate the Product Carbon Footprint, incorporating customer needs and best practices. Infineon includes emissions from raw materials and supplies, its own manufacturing processes, manufacturing partners and transportation to the customer (“from cradle to gate”).
This means that the Product Carbon Footprint reported by Infineon covers scope 1 and 2 emissions as well as scope 3 emissions from suppliers and manufacturing partners, all the way to the customer’s gate. The Product Carbon Footprint is expressed in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent (kg CO 2e).
Infineon has published the assessment of reference product families on the Infineon website.
Driving transparency goes hand in hand with Infineon’s strong commitment to decarbonization and digitalization. Infineon’s products make a major contribution to the global energy transition and thus to a net-zero society. They are used in solar and wind power plants, electric cars and increase energy efficiency in numerous applications, including AI data centers. Over their lifetime, the company’s chips overall save 34 times the amount of CO 2e emitted during their production.
Breaking the carbon footprint down to the product level is another major milestone in Infineon’s sustainability journey. Infineon has already pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 for direct and indirect emissions (scope 1 and 2). Last year, the company additionally committed to setting a science-based target encompassing supply chain emissions (scope 3) as well.
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Infineon Technologies AG introduced the 600 V CoolMOS™ S7TA Superjunction MOSFET for automotive power management applications. Designed to meet the specific requirements of automotive electronics, the S7TA features an integrated temperature sensor that significantly improves the accuracy of junction temperature sensing, building on the advances made by its counterpart for industrial applications (CoolMOS S7T). The resulting benefits include improved durability, safety, and efficiency, all of which are essential in the automotive domain.
Like its industrial counterpart, the automotive-graded CoolMOS S7TA is particularly well suited for solid-state relay (SSR) applications, demonstrating superior R DS(on) and sensing accuracy, which is crucial for various automotive electronic devices that rely on efficient power management solutions. The integration of a Superjunction MOSFET with an embedded temperature sensor in the same package enhances the performance of SSRs and ensures dependable operation even under the most severe overload conditions, which is an absolute necessity for automotive applications where reliability is non-negotiable.
The embedded sensor of the S7TA offers a 40 percent increase in accuracy and up to four times faster response time than standalone on-board sensors. Such advances in temperature monitoring are critical for automotive applications, enabling individual monitoring within multi-device systems, thereby improving reliability, and preventing thermal issues that can lead to system failures.
The optimized power transistor utilization of the CoolMOS S7TA promises not only superior performance, but also precise control of the output stage. This level of precision is key to reducing power consumption and energy costs, which is a pressing concern in automotive applications where efficiency translates directly into vehicle range and operational economy. Compared to traditional electromechanical relays, the CoolMOS S7TA offers a significant improvement in total power dissipation.
The CoolMOS S7TA further provides a high overcurrent threshold, which serves to increase the reliability of the SSR and reduce the likelihood of failures. The robust switching solution paves the way for safer operations within the vehicle, and the enhanced robustness of the MOSFETs leads to a longer automotive relay lifecycle, resulting in lower maintenance and replacement costs.
The 600 V CoolMOS S7TA provides an optimized solution for potential applications that are central to the safety and functionality of modern vehicles. These include critical components such as circuit breakers, encompassing high-voltage battery disconnect switches, low-frequency switches for both direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC), as well as high-voltage electronic fuses (HV eFuses).
Infineon also introduces the EVAL_eFuse_PoC_400V_S7, a proof-of-concept board that showcases the robustness and versatility of an automotive eFuse. The board demonstrates a reliable method for safeguarding automotive electrical systems, featuring an interchangeable power stage that adapts to various operating conditions with different voltage classes and cooling methods.
Both the 600 V CoolMOS S7T in automotive and industrial grades are already available and come in QDPAK TSC and BSC packages, offering a range of R DS(on) from 17 to 40 mΩ. The 10 mΩ variant will be added to the lineup in the second half of 2024. Further information is available at www.infineon.com/s7ta and www.infineon.com/s7t.
Original – Infineon Technologies
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Infineon Technologies AG introduced the 600 V CoolMOS™ 8 high voltage superjunction (SJ) MOSFET product family. The devices combine the best features of the 600 V CoolMOS 7 MOSFET series and are the successors to the P7, PFD7, C7, CFD7, G7 and S7 product families. The new superjunction MOSFETs enable cost-effective Si-based solutions that enhance Infineon’s wide-bandgap offering. They are equipped with an integrated fast body diode, making them suitable for a wide range of applications such as server and industrial switched-mode power supply units (SMPS), EV chargers, and micro-solar.
The components come in SMD QDPAK, TOLL and ThinTOLL 8 x 8 packages, which simplifies designs and reduces assembly costs. At 10 V, the 600 V CoolMOS 8 SJ MOSFETs offer 18 percent lower gate charge (Q g) than the CFD7 and 33 percent lower than the P7. At 400 V, the product family offers a 50 percent lower output capacitance C OSS than the CFD7 and the P7.
In addition, the turn-off losses (E oss) have been reduced by 12 percent compared to the CFD7 and the P7 and the reverse recovery charge (Q rr) is 3 percent lower compared to the CFD7. Furthermore, the devices offer the lowest reverse recovery time (t rr) on the market and the thermal performance has been improved by 14 to 42 percent compared to the previous generation.
With these features, the devices offer high efficiency and reliability in soft-switching topologies such as LLC and ZVS phase-shift full-bridge. They also provide excellent performance levels in PFC, TTF and other hard-switching topologies. Due to their optimized R DS(on), the devices offer higher power density, allowing products in a Si-based super junction (SJ) technology to be reduced to a single-digit value of 7 mΩ.
Infineon will showcase the 600 V CoolMOS 8 SJ MOSFETs at the Infineon booth (Hall 7 / Booth 470) at PCIM 2024 in Nuremberg. Samples of the 600 V CoolMOS 8 SJ MOSFETs are now available. More information is at www.infineon.com/coolmos8.
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