News: Microelectronics
8 October 2021
Navitas China opens new office in Shenzhen
Gallium nitride (GaN) power integrated circuit firm Navitas Semiconductor of El Segundo, CA, USA and Dublin, Ireland has opened a new office in Shenzhen, China (in the Baidu International Building, in the high-density Nanshan District), providing a 300% increase in capabilities to support what it describes as extraordinary revenue growth in that region.
Picture: The new facility in Shenzhen offers significant engineering capacity for Navitas to co-develop GaN-based power systems with customers and design partners.
Founded in 2014, Navitas introduced what it claimed to be the first commercial GaN power integrated circuits. Its proprietary GaNFast power ICs monolithically integrate GaN power field-effect transistors (FETs) and GaN drive plus control and protection circuits in a single SMT package. Since GaN is reckoned to run up to 20x faster than silicon, GaNFast power ICs are said to deliver up to 3x faster charging or 3x more power in half the size and weight, and with up to 40% energy savings compared with silicon chips. With over 130 patents issued or pending, and significant trade secrets including a proprietary process design kit (PDK), Navitas believes it has a multi-year lead in next-generation GaN power ICs.
The new Shenzhen facility offers significant engineering capacity for Navitas to co-develop GaN-based power systems with customers and design partners. The investment supports the rapid growth of GaN mobile fast chargers, as well as the firm’s recently announced expansion plans to enable GaN-based data centers, solar installations and electric vehicles (EVs), which represent a multi-billion-dollar market opportunity for the company.
Data-center upgrades from legacy silicon to GaN are estimated to save almost $2bn/year in electricity costs, while GaN adoption in solar micro-inverters has been estimated by Enphase Energy to enable 10x faster switching and a significant reduction in costs. Per-vehicle, GaN content in passenger EVs is estimated to be $50 for on-board fast chargers, $15 for DC-DC converters, and then up to $200 for later adoption in traction drive.
“Alongside Hangzhou and Shanghai, the new state-of-the-art Shenzhen office is another, significant addition to Navitas China,” says Charles (Jingjie) Zha, VP & general manager of Navitas China. “Chinese demand for next-generation power systems is growing exponentially and, with the world’s only fully integrated GaN power ICs, Navitas is in a fantastic position to capitalize on that growth,” he believes. “The new facilities demonstrate our commitment to support expanded customer demands in China.”
Navitas and Live Oak II add $18m to PIPE, raising total proceeds to $173m
