20 Most-Read Material Developments Stories for 2016: 10-1
Among the important trends in power electronics technology is the maturing of new semiconductor materials such as SiC, GaN, GaAs, and so on. PowerPulse provides comprehensive and focused coverage of technology, business and research trends in this area in our Material Developments section. In 2016, PowerPulse published 108 stories on developments in advanced semiconductor materials. You will find all the articles in Material Developments.
The following is a listing (with links for the full story) of some of the most-read Material Developments stories in PowerPulse.Net for 2016, thus providing a window into the "pulse" of the trends and interests in new power semiconductor materials and devices in the Global Power Electronics Industry. This is the concluding article in this brief series, which began yesterday.
#10: 1700V SiC MOSFET Optimized for Industrial Converters
ROHM has recently announced the availability of a new 1700V SiC MOSFET, part number SCT2H12NZ, optimized for industrial applications, such as manufacturing equipment, high-voltage general-purpose inverters, auxiliary power supplies for high voltage (i.e. 400Vac) industrial equipment such as factory automation (robots), solar and industrial inverters, and manufacturing/testing devices. More.
#9: 1.2kV GaN Switch Handles over 20A
Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. has developed the world's first 1.2kV class power semiconductor device capable of large current operation exceeding 20A. This was done using gallium nitride (GaN), a key material in blue LEDs, which has superior physical properties including the ability to withstand high voltages. More.
Wolfspeed, a Cree Company and a leader in silicon carbide (SiC) power products, has introduced a 1000V MOSFET that enables a reduction in overall system cost, while improving system efficiency and decreasing system size. The new MOSFET, specially optimized for fast charging and industrial power supplies, enables a 30 percent reduction in component count while achieving more than 3x increase in power density and a 33 percent increase in output power. More.
#7: DC-DC Converters can Drive SiC MOSFETs
To meet the tough requirements of the next generation of MOSFETs, RECOM has recently introduced two new 2W dc-dc converter series especially designed to power SiC MOSFETs. One of the challenges of driving SiC MOSFETs is the high frequency and high voltage at which they are switched. High potentials between the control and power side of a SiC MOSFET application can wear down isolation barriers, eventually causing them to fail. More.
#6: 80V Half-Bridge 33MHz GaN FET Driver
Peregrine Semiconductor Corp. claims the world's fastest gallium nitride (GaN) field-effect transistor (FET) driver, the UltraCMOS® PE29100. Built on Peregrine's UltraCMOS technology, this new GaN driver empowers design engineers to extract the full performance and speed advantages from GaN transistors. Designed to drive the gates of a high-side and a low-side GaN FET in a switching configuration, the PE29100 claiims the industry's fastest switching speeds, shortest propagation delays and lowest rise and fall times to ac-dc converters, dc-dc converters, class D audio amplifiers and wireless charging applications. More.
#5: 650V GaN 2kW Half-Bridge Evaluation Board
VisIC Technologies announced its new Half-Bridge Evaluation Board using its VT15R65A GaN Power ALL Switch (Advanced Low Loss Switch) in a "work horse," half-bridge power conversion circuit. The VT15R65A-EVBHB demonstrates 98.5% power conversion efficiency operating at a switching frequency of 200kHz. Silicon MOSFET-based systems demonstrating similar efficiencies in this power range are limited to operation at 60kHz or less, and competitive GaN devices have only shown similar efficiency at 100kHz. More.
#4: Gallium-Oxide may be a New Frontier for Power Semis
Several recent news stories seem to indicate that gallium-oxide power semiconductor devices may be on the commercial horizon. Kyma Technologies, Inc., of Raleigh, North Carolina, announced the addition gallium-oxide epiwafers with a beta orientation to its growing offering of advanced materials. In its announcement, the company points out that crystalline beta gallium oxide (β-Ga2O3) is a promising wide bandgap semiconductor material due in part to its large bandgap of 4.8 - 4.9 eV. It has a high breakdown field of 8 MV/cm, and a high dielectric constant of 10, along with an electron mobility of up to 300 cm²/V-s. More.
#3: GaN used to Design 2.5MHz 3kW Resonant DC-DC
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg, Germany, together with partners, have investigated how GaN power devices can be used to make power electronic systems in aviation applications more efficient. In the project 'GaN-resonat – Efficient, highly compact, high-frequency power electronics with GaN transistors', consortium partners SUMIDA Components & Modules GmbH, Liebherr Elektronik GmbH and Fraunhofer ISE complement each other in the fields of inductive components, aviation technology and power electronics. More.
#2: GaN Device claims Highest Efficiency at Highest Frequency
VisIC Technologies is pleased to announce availability of its new generation of ALL-Switch V22S65A (with an internal SiC diode) and V22N65A (without internal SiC diode). This new version of VisIC's ALL-Switch significantly reduces the MILLER effect enabling readily available, standard drivers to be used in VisIC-based designs. These new devices also reduce the bill of materials required for specific applications. More.
#1: 1200V SiC MOSFET with 45-milliOhm On-Resistance
Infineon Technologies AG has unveiled what is claimed to be a revolutionary silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET technology allowing product designs to achieve previously unattainable levels of power density and performance. Infineon's CoolSiCâ„¢ MOSFETs offer a new degree of flexibility for increasing efficiency and frequency. They will help developers of power conversion schemes to save space and weight, reduce cooling requirements, improve reliability and lower system costs. More.
