Semiconductor today

On 14 November, Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Electric Corp is commencing shipment of samples of a silicon carbide (SiC) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) bare die for use in drive-motor inverters of electric vehicles (EVs), plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) and other electric vehicles (xEVs)...

ROHM Semiconductor has launched surface-mount SiC Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) that improve insulation resistance by increasing the creepage distance between terminals. The initial lineup includes eight models (SCS2xxxNHR) for automotive applications such as on-board chargers (OBCs) and DC-DC converters (available now), with plans to deploy eight additional models (SCS2xxxN) for industrial equipment such as factory automation (FA) devices (e.g. AC servo motors for industrial robots) and photovoltaic (PV) inverters, power conditioners, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) etc (scheduled to be available) in December...

Silicon carbide wafer manufacturing technology firm TekSiC AB of Linköping, Sweden has appointed Joachim Tollstoy as chief executive officer, effective 7 October. With over 15 years of leadership experience, Tollstoy has an understanding of market dynamics that TekSiC reckons will be essential as it navigates the evolving landscape of silicon carbide manufacturing...

Fabless firm Cambridge GaN Devices Ltd (CGD) — which was spun out of the University of Cambridge in 2016 to design, develop and commercialize power transistors and ICs that use GaN-on-silicon substrates — and Qorvo Inc of Greensboro, NC, USA (which provides core technologies and RF solutions for mobile, infrastructure and defense applications) have partnered to bring together motor control and power efficiency technologies in the PAC5556A + ICeGaN evaluation kit (EVK). The collaboration combines Qorvo’s BLDC/PMSM motor controller/driver and CGD’s ICeGaN ICs in a board that is said to significantly improve motor control applications...

For its fiscal second-quarter 2025 (ended 28 September 2024), Qorvo Inc of Greensboro, NC, USA (which provides core technologies and RF solutions for mobile, infrastructure and defense applications) has reported revenue of $1046.5m. This is down 5.2% on $1103.5m a year ago due mainly to a hiatus in Android smartphone revenues, following ramps in first-half calendar 2024 for key models including both Samsung’s S24 (involving over $5 of content) and Google’s Pixel ($15 of content). However, revenue has rebounded by 18% from $886.7m last quarter. It also exceeds the $1025m guidance, driven by double-digit sequential growth in all three operating segments...

Efficient Power Conversion Corp (EPC) of El Segundo, CA, USA — which makes enhancement-mode gallium nitride on silicon (eGaN) power field-effect transistors (FETs) and integrated circuits for power management applications — says that the US International Trade Commission (ITC) has affirmed its initial determination that gallium nitride-on-silicon (GaN-on-Si) power solutions firm Innoscience of Suzhou, China infringed EPC’s foundational patent for GaN technology, which is core to applications involving artificial intelligence, satellites, rapid chargers, humanoid robots and autonomous driving, among others...

During the inaugural ministerial event of the World Fusion Energy Group at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Rome, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) agreement was signed between Ricerca sul Sistema Energetico (RSE S.p.A., a company indirectly controlled by Italy’s Ministry of Economy and Finance through its sole shareholder GSE S.p.A.), and Blue Laser Fusion Inc (BLF) of Santa Barbara, CA, USA (founded in 2022 by CEO professor Shuji Nakamura, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014 and member of the RSE Scientific Committee) to initiate joint R&D on what is claimed would be the world’s first commercial-scale inertial fusion energy (IFE) power plant...

Netherlands-headquartered automaker Stellantis N.V. and Infineon Technologies AG of Munich, Germany are to work jointly on the power architecture for Stellantis’ electric vehicles...

MACOM Technology Solutions Inc of Lowell, MA, USA (which designs and makes RF, microwave, analog and mixed-signal and optical semiconductor technologies) has acquired fabless semiconductor company ENGIN-IC Inc of Plano, TX and San Diego, CA, USA, which designs gallium nitride (GaN) monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) and integrated microwave module assemblies. It is expected that ENGIN-IC’s design capabilities will strengthen MACOM’s ability to serve its target markets and gain market share...

A new report, published by the Welsh Economy Research Unit at Cardiff University, highlights the economic contribution of the Compound Semiconductor Applications (CSA) Catapult...

Fabless firm Cambridge GaN Devices Ltd (CGD) — which was spun out of the University of Cambridge in 2016 to design, develop and commercialize power transistors and ICs that use GaN-on-silicon substrates — is exhibiting in booth C3.539 at electronica 2024 in Messe München, Munich, Germany (12–15 November)...

EPC Space LLC of Haverhill, MA, USA (which provides high-reliability radiation-hardened enhancement-mode gallium nitride-on-silicon transistors and ICs for power management in space and other harsh environments) has launched the HEMTKY product line...

Gallium nitride (GaN) power IC and silicon carbide (SiC) technology firm Navitas Semiconductor Corp of Torrance, CA, USA has announced what it claims is the world’s first 8.5kW power supply unit (PSU), powered by GaN and SiC technologies to achieve 98% efficiency, for next-generation AI and hyperscale data centers...

Discrete device designer and manufacturer Nexperia of Nijmegen, the Netherlands (which operates wafer fabs in Hamburg, Germany, and Hazel Grove Manchester, UK) has entered into a strategic partnership with automotive supplier KOSTAL of Lüdenscheid, Germany, which will enable it to produce wide-bandgap (WBG) devices that more closely match the exacting requirements of automotive applications. Nexperia will supply, develop and manufacture WBG power electronics devices that will be designed-in and validated by Kostal...

Epiwafer and substrate maker IQE plc of Cardiff, Wales, UK has announced an expansion of its manufacturing facility in Greensboro, Guilford County, North Carolina, subject to customer commitments and funding from the US federal CHIPS and Science Act. The firm plans to add 109 jobs and invest $305m over several years...

Power Integrations Inc of San Jose, CA, USA (which provides high-voltage integrated circuits for energy-efficient power conversion) has added to its InnoMux-2 family of single-stage, independently regulated multi-output offline power supply ICs by introduced a new device featuring what is claimed to be the first 1700V gallium nitride (GaN) switch, fabricated using the company’s proprietary PowiGaN technology. The 1700V rating is said to further advances the state-of-the-art for GaN power devices, previously set by Power Integrations’ own 900V and 1250V devices, both launched in 2023...

Lumentum Holdings Inc of San Jose, CA, USA (which designs and makes optical and photonic products for optical networks and lasers for industrial and consumer markets) has issued its fourth annual Corporate Sustainability Report, for fiscal 2024 (ended 29 June), showcasing its environmental, social and governance achievements...

Infineon Technologies AG of Munich, Germany has strengthened its gallium nitride (GaN) portfolio by launching a new family of high-voltage discretes, the CoolGaN Transistors 650V G5. Target applications range from consumer and industrial switched-mode power supplies (SMPS) such as USB-C adapters and chargers, lighting, TV, data-center and telecom rectifiers to renewable energy and motor drives in home appliances...

MACOM Technology Solutions Inc of Lowell, MA, USA (which designs and makes RF, microwave, analog and mixed-signal and optical semiconductor technologies) has been selected to lead a development project to establish gallium nitride (GaN) on silicon carbide (SiC) process technologies for radio frequency (RF) and microwave applications. Funded by the CHIPS and Science Act through the US Department of Defense (DoD), the project will focus on developing semiconductor manufacturing processes for GaN-based materials and monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) operating efficiently at high voltage and at millimeter-wave (mmW) frequencies...

Wide-bandgap power semiconductor materials, component and foundry services provider Sanan Semiconductor Co Ltd of Changsha City, Hunan, China has expanded its silicon carbide (SiC) power product portfolio by launching 1700V and 2000V devices, offering high power efficiency in applications ranging from renewable energy to electric vehicle charging infrastructure...