Silicon-based Power Semis Face Challenges

By Mark LaPedus - 17 Feb, 2022 - Comments: 0

Suppliers of power semiconductors continue to develop and ship devices based on traditional silicon technology, but silicon is nearing its limits and faces increased competition from technologies like GaN and SiC. In response, the industry is finding ways to extend traditional silicon-based power devices. Chipmakers are eking out more performance and prolonging the technology, at least in th... » read more

China Accelerates Foundry, Power Semi Efforts

By Mark LaPedus - 22 Nov, 2021 - Comments: 4

China has unveiled several initiatives to advance its domestic semiconductor industry, including a new and massive fab expansion campaign in the foundry, gallium-nitride (GaN), and silicon carbide (SiC) markets. The nation is making a big push into what it calls “third-generation semiconductors,” which is a misnomer. The term actually refers to two existing and common power semiconductor... » read more

Gearing Up For Next-Gen Power Semis

By Mark LaPedus - 16 Sep, 2021 - Comments: 0

After years in R&D, several vendors are moving closer to shipping power semiconductors and other products based on next-generation wide-bandgap technologies. These devices leverage the properties of new materials, such as aluminum nitride, diamond, and gallium oxide, and they are also utilized in different structures, such as vertical gallium-nitride power devices. But while many of thes... » read more

Will An Adhesion Promoter Prevent Delamination In Power Semiconductor Packages?

By Amkor - 21 Jul, 2021 - Comments: 0

Power semiconductor packages are used in high temperature, high voltage environments. With the increase of electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) in the automotive market, demands on (and for) power packages have been growing. Packages for automotive applications must pass extensive testing for safety, therefore, packaging reliability is essential. As more semiconductor pack... » read more

Will An Adhesion Promoter Prevent Delamination?

By Sophie Olson - 15 Apr, 2021 - Comments: 0

48V Applications Drive Power IC Package Options

By Bill Schweber - 21 Jan, 2021 - Comments: 1

The manufacturing process and die get most of the attention, but the packaging plays an important part in enabling and limiting performance, manufacturability, particularly when it comes to reliability of power devices. Given the wide range of underlying semiconductor power-device technologies — “basic” silicon, wide-bandgap silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN), power levels... » read more

Improving Reliability For GaN And SiC

By Mark LaPedus - 18 Jun, 2020 - Comments: 2

Suppliers of gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) power devices are rolling out the next wave of products with some new and impressive specs. But before these devices are incorporated in systems, they must prove to be reliable. As with previous products, suppliers are quick to point out that the new devices are reliable, although there are some issues that can occasionally surface... » read more

Power Semi Wars Begin

By Mark LaPedus - 23 Oct, 2019 - Comments: 1

Several vendors are rolling out the next wave of power semiconductors based on gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC), setting the stage for a showdown against traditional silicon-based devices in the market. Power semiconductors are specialized transistors that incorporate different and competitive technologies like GaN, SiC and silicon. Power semis operate as a switch in high-volt... » read more

Silicon Carbide’s Superpowers

By Llew Vaughan-Edmunds - 15 Aug, 2019 - Comments: 0

As we enter a new computing era driven by the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI), demand is growing for more energy-efficient chips. In this context, we usually think about Moore’s Law and reducing the size of transistors. However, advances in power semiconductors are not governed by node size reduction. Silicon power switches, such as MOSFETs and IGBTs, ar... » read more

200mm Cools Off, But Not For Long

By Mark LaPedus - 18 Jul, 2019 - Comments: 4

After years of acute shortages, 200mm fab capacity is finally loosening up, but the supply/demand picture could soon change with several challenges on the horizon. 200mm fabs are older facilities with more mature processes, although they still churn out a multitude of today’s critical chips, such as analog, MEMS, RF and others. From 2016 to 2018, booming demand for these and other chips ca... » read more

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