Page 4 - PowerUp 2021 Conference Proceedings for PEN

WIDE BANDGAP

Wide-Bandgap

Semiconductors: The Next

Wave of GaN and SiC

PowerUP’s WBG panel discussion focused on new product
developments and how GaN and SiC semiconductors are helping to
reduce the world’s carbon footprint.

By Gina Roos, editor-in-chief of Electronic Products

AspenCore’s PowerUP Expo 2021 devoted a full day to wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductors,
specifically gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC). The WBG panel discussion focused on “the
next wave of GaN and SiC,” taking its cue from the day’s topic presentations, including new product
developments, technology challenges, and wafer manufacturing.

Thanks to their savings in size, weight, and cost, as well as higher efficiency, GaN and SiC power
devices are making big pushes beyond fast chargers and renewable energy into data centers, motor
drivers, electric vehicles (EVs), and other e-mobility applications.

The panel was comprised of six industry experts. Panelists in the GaN market included Alex Lidow, CEO
and co-founder of EPC, who discussed GaN integration technology; Stephen Olivier, vice president of
corporate marketing and investor relations at Navitas Semiconductor, who examined GaN’s role in
electrification; and Caroline O’Brien, CEO of Kubos Semiconductor, who highlighted the company’s

cubic-GaN technology for LEDs.

SiC panelists included Pete Losee, director of technology development at UnitedSiC (recently
acquired by Qorvo), who discussed his company’s expanding portfolio with 750-V Gen 4 product
series; Paul Kierstead, global director of power product marketing at Wolfspeed, who covered SiC’s
role in renewable energy power conversion and storage; and Rob Rhoades, president and CTO of
X-trinsic, who provided deep insight into SiC wafer manufacturing.

Common themes among the panelists included efficiency and integration, along with reducing the
world’s reliance on fossil fuels with the help of WBG semiconductors. Panelists also agreed that the
move to 200-mm wafers, coming soon, will be a further cost savings.

GaN: EFFICIENCY AND CARBON SAVINGS
Kubos’s O’Brien kicked off the panel with an introduction to the company’s new material technology,
cubic GaN for LEDs. The next generation in lighting innovations is assumed to be the existing LED

4 FEBRUARY 2022 | www.eetimes.com