News: Microelectronics
26 October 2022
KYOCERA AVX Salzburg and VisIC expand collaboration for GaN-based e-mobility
VisIC Technologies Ltd of Ness Ziona, Israel – a fabless supplier of power conversion devices based on gallium nitride (GaN) transistors for high-voltage automotive applications – and Austria-headquartered automotive electronic component maker KYOCERA AVX Salzburg (Kyocera-AVX Salzburg, which has production sites in North America, China and Europe) are expanding their collaboration.
The partners are combining their strengths in packaging, assembly and GaN wafer technologies with the aim of providing high-current components for high-voltage applications such as charging and e-drivetrains.
The expansion aims to fulfill the automotive industry’s demands for reliable and highly efficient power solutions that will save on electric vehicle (EV) costs. With the best thermal resistance it is reckoned, discrete GaN devices and half-bridge modules will be essential for future on-board chargers (OBC) and traction inverters, optimizing weight, size, costs and driving range.
Based on VisIC’s second-generation, lowest RDS(on) D3GaN (Direct Drive D-Mode) switches, the power module, which will provide what is reckoned to be groundbreaking power density and performance, has already been adopted for the next-generation inverter sample of a major tier-1 automotive manufacturer.
In addition to these collaboration developments, the companies have also achieved an approach to high-voltage battery disconnection, based on GaN power switches, through effective cooperation in a very short timeframe. With the fastest switching time, the current and, therefore thermal stress of the battery and board net, can be limited. This design will be available for lead projects this year.
“The electrification of the automotive industry has generated significant demand for power components, which we foresee continuing its strong growth for the next decade,” says Ran Klier, VisIC’s senior VP of sales & marketing. “Together with KYOCERA AVX Salzburg, we will provide packaged discrete GaN devices and die-based power modules for major EV OEM and tier-1 designs.”
VisIC says that its D3GaN technology was developed for the high-reliability standards of the automotive industry and for the lowest losses. It also simplifies the system solution and enables highly efficient and affordable powertrain platform solutions. These benefits have been well received by the premium automotive clients that VisIC has been working with over the past several years.
“Gallium nitride semiconductors are the key to efficiency improvements and increasing the driving range of electrified vehicles,” says Martin Knosp, product line director at KYOCERA AVX Salzburg. “This technology offers significantly better switching speed and smaller and lighter package sizes, thereby reducing total system costs,” he adds. “We are happy to expand our cooperation with VisIC Technologies, leveraging our advanced design and manufacturing abilities to create more GaN products and devices to better serve the booming EV market demands.”
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