Electrifying Everything: Power Moves Toward ICs


As electronic systems grow increasingly complex and energy-intensive, traditional power management methods — centered on centralized systems and external components — are proving inadequate. The next wave of innovation is to bring power control closer to the action — directly on the chip or into a heterogeneous package. This change is driven by a relentless pursuit of efficiency, scala... » read more

Improving GaN Device Architectures


As the universe of applications for power devices grows, designers are finding that no single semiconductor can cover the full range of voltage and current requirements. Instead, combination circuits use different materials for different parts of the overall operating range. GaN is especially well-established in low-power applications like chargers for personal electronics, while silicon and... » read more

Silicon Carbide And Gallium Nitride Bring New Challenges For Semiconductor Test


In the era of megatrends such as electric vehicles (EVs), new technologies are emerging to keep up with evolving demands. One example of this is the evolution of compound semiconductors that use silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) for high-performance power systems. Innovating test protocols to handle wide bandgap materials For many power-related applications, the semiconductor in... » read more

Research Bits: Oct. 29


Micro-LED DUV maskless lithography Researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui GaN Semiconductor, and Wuhan University developed a vertically integrated micro-LED array for deep ultraviolet (DUV) maskless photolithography. The team fabricated a DUV display integrated chip with 564 pixels-per-inch density that uses a three-dimensional vertically integrated devic... » read more

New Materials Are in High Demand


Materials suppliers are responding to the intense pressures to improve power, performance, scaling, and cost issues, which follows a long timeline from synthesis to development and high volume manufacturing in fabs. The advances in machine learning help present a wide field of candidates, which engineers then narrow to potential use. When building standard logic semiconductor chips, the prim... » read more

Research Bits: Aug. 27


Ammonia-free GaN Researchers from Nagoya University discovered a way to grow gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors without using ammonia. The process is both more environmentally friendly and allows for high-quality growth of crystals at a lower cost. Metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) is the most common technique for GaN production, which uses ammonia (NH3) gas as the source of... » read more

Driving Cost Lower and Power Higher With GaN


Gallium nitride is starting to make broader inroads in the lower-end of the high-voltage, wide-bandgap power FET market, where silicon carbide has been the technology of choice. This shift is driven by lower costs and processes that are more compatible with bulk silicon. Efficiency, power density (size), and cost are the three major concerns in power electronics, and GaN can meet all three c... » read more

Easing EV Range Anxiety Through Faster Charging


The automotive industry is developing new ways to boost the range of electric vehicles and the speed at which they are charged, overcoming buyer hesitation that has limited the total percentage of EVs to 18% of vehicles being sold.[1] Work is underway to improve how batteries are engineered and manufactured, and how they are managed while they are in use or being charged. This extends well b... » read more

Research Bits: June 18


Gallium nitride can take the heat Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the UAE's Technology Innovation Institute, Ohio State University, Rice University, and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology investigated the performance of ohmic contacts in a gallium nitride (GaN) device at extremely high temperatures, such as those that would be required for devices... » read more

Liquid Cooling And GaN: A Winning Combination


Data centers are facing an unprecedented transformation due to the surge in generative AI and other emerging technologies. A single ChatGPT session consumes 50 to 100 times more energy than a comparable Google search, escalating data center rack power requirements towards 200 kW or more, presenting serious challenges for operators. Cooling, in fact, takes up about 40% of the power requireme... » read more

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