News: Microelectronics
20 June 2024
Renesas completes acquisition of Transphorm
Renesas Electronics Corp of Tokyo, Japan has completed its acquisition of Transphorm Inc of Goleta, CA, USA.
Spun off from University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) in 2007, Transphorm designs JEDEC- and AEC-Q101-qualified gallium nitride (GaN) field-effect transistors (FETs) for high-voltage power conversion, and has manufacturing operations in Goleta and in Aizu, Japan.
Renesas is hence now offering GaN-based power products and related reference designs to meet the rising demand for wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor products.
Since WBG materials such as GaN and silicon carbide (SiC) have superior power efficiency, higher switching frequencies and small footprints compared with conventional silicon-based devices, the markets for both GaN- and SiC-based products are expected to grow rapidly over the next decade, driven by demand from electric vehicles (EVs), inverters, data-center servers, artificial intelligence (AI), renewable energy, industrial power conversion, consumer applications and others.
“Customers instantly benefit from the new GaN products through turnkey reference designs, which integrate technologies from both companies,” says Chris Allexandre, senior VP & general manager of Power at Renesas. “Adding GaN into our portfolio also reinforces our commitment to develop products and technology that make people’s lives easier,” he adds. “Providing robust and sustainable power solutions that save energy, reduce cost and minimize environmental impacts does just that.”
Investing in the power business is an important part of Renesas’ strategy for achieving sustainable, long-term growth. Other recent moves that Renesas has made to bolster this market segment include: the opening of the Kofu Factory (a dedicated 300mm wafer fab for power products); ramping up a new SiC production line at the Takasaki Factory; and forging an agreement with Wolfspeed to secure a steady supply of SiC wafers over the next 10 years. With GaN technology now part of its portfolio, Renesas reckons that it is poised to offer more comprehensive power solutions to support the evolving needs of customers across a broad range of applications.
Also, Renesas has rolled out 15 new market-ready reference designs that combine the new GaN products with Renesas’ embedded processing, power, connectivity and analog portfolios. These include the designs of Transphorm’s automotive-grade GaN technology integrated for on-board battery chargers as well as 3-in-1 powertrain solutions for EVs.
Some examples are:
- 500W on-board battery charger for 2-wheeler EV;
- 3-in-1 EV unit: inverter, on-board charger, DC/DC converter;
- 240W 48V extended power range AC/DC adapter;
- 3.6kW bi-directional digital power DAB system.
