Three megatrends—digital economy, electrification, and sustainability—are driving a cross-industry revolution in power electronics. The digitalization trend in manufacturing industries and businesses processes, increasing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), and the global drive toward carbon reduction and green sustainability are in turn driving demand for higher power densities, smaller and smaller devices, and more energy efficient power electronics.

However, the characteristics of silicon—lower conductance and switching speeds—are limiting its capabilities to meet the modern demands as mentioned. And this is where gallium nitride (GaN) power semiconductors come in.

GaN is a wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor capable of operating in higher power applications at much higher-temperature environments.

“The material properties of GaN make it an ideal replacement for silicon to solve the persistent and universal challenges of energy wasted in power conversion and system size shrinking limitations,” says Andy Chuang, Vice President of Business Development at GaN Systems, one of the global leaders in GaN power semiconductors.

GaN Systems offers the most extensive transistors portfolio that addresses the needs of worldwide customers in today’s most demanding industries, including consumer electronics, data centers, automotive, industrial, and renewable energy. Chuang is responsible for exploring new opportunities with customers and partners in Asia.

Andy Chuang

“We have seen acceptance beyond consumer electronics into automotive and data center industries,” says Chuang. “Through our ongoing and close collaboration with worldwide consumer electronics brands like Samsung, Dell, and Razer, we enable smaller, lighter, and more powerful, efficient chargers than ever before.”

Growing opportunities

Chuang sees growing opportunities for GaN devices in an increasing number of industries. “Profitability and sustainability initiatives are driving data centers to seek greener power solutions,” says Chuang. “Meanwhile, demands from rising adoptions of 5G and booming AI and IoT applications are driving the development of more compact but higher-density power supplies to support more computing capacity.”

In addition, new energy efficiency regulations, such as the EU Ecodesign Lot 9, which requires data center energy efficiency to increase from 94% to 96%, and the Open Computing Project (OCP), which defines a new standard form factor for a server’s power supply that decreases the size by 30%, are likewise a boon for GaN devices when it comes to the data center industry.

“We will see more adoption of GaN in data centers as using smaller and more highly efficient GaN-based power supplies will reduce the need for buildouts, lower power bills, and water usage from excessive dependence on cooling systems,” explains Chuang.

He is also seeing plenty of opportunities in the automotive market, as the moral motivation of climate change and energy economics continue to drive the global adoption of EVs.

“High-performance GaN solutions currently in the design stage will be in the mainstream in 2025–2026,” Chuang explains. “According to Yole Développement, GaN automotive/mobility sector is estimated to grow at a 97% compound average growth rate (CAGR) from 2021 to 2027. OEMs are increasingly moving into production with GaN in both 400V and 800V power systems.”

In addition, the silicon carbide (SiC) market’s continuing to experience material shortages, yield challenges, and cost concerns are giving GaN opportunities in these sectors.

Unique proposition

GaN Systems has been at the forefront of developing high-performance, industry leading GaN power semiconductor solutions. Its comprehensive lineup of GaN power transistors includes 650V and 100V devices, with operating currents ranging from 4A to 150A. The company also offers multiple packaging styles for thermal and cost optimization in medium- to high-power applications.

But what makes its solutions unique in this increasingly crowded market is its close collaboration with leading brands in multiple industries as well as experts in application engineering.

For example, GaN Systems’ collaboration with Dell has enabled a GaN-powered 240W AC charger for Dell’s Alien laptop, which is about the same size as its old 90W charger but with 2.7X more power.

“In the automotive industry, in addition to our strategic partnership with BMW, SPARKX/Toyota, Vitesco, and USI, GaN Systems is the only GaN device supplier of Canoo’s in-production EV onboard chargers (OBC),” adds Chuang. “The EV startup has signed supply agreements with Walmart and the US Army.”

Another use case is with SoluM, the major PSU supplier to Intel, according to Chuang. “Together, GaN Systems and SoluM develop a 2,700W power supply with near 99% peak efficiency, high power density above 80W/in3, and 10-25% system cost reduction. This enables data center operators to fit more CPU/GPU power and storage in existing racks,” he says.

According to Chuang, all these are giving GaN Systems an edge in helping customers shorten their design cycles and meet time-to-market.

“And most importantly, we developed an improved qualification testing process called AutoQual+ based on JEDEC and AEC-Q101 to ensure our GaN power transistors meet the rigorous reliability requirements in industries with the most severe mission profiles,” he says.

The future of GaN

Although the overall semiconductor market is on a downtrend, Chuang says they still see growth in specific product mixes.

“WSTS predicts a 7.5% decline in Asia Pacific’s semiconductor industry, but mainly from the decline in the memory category,” he says. “Discrete semiconductors expect to grow by 2.8% year-on-year. Gartner predicts a 3.6% decline in 2023, but enterprise-driven markets remain resilient.”

Chuang notes that while the growing macroeconomic slowdown and inflation may somewhat dampen chip demand, the shortages will only continue based on product mix and new technology requirements.

For their part, GaN Systems’ approach to new generations of GaN devices is aimed at leading an industry-changing shift in both the short-term and ‘near future’ relationship between the technology’s power systems and energy—creating significant product and system-wide changes.

“We will continue to optimize performance as the current performance of GaN devices is still 300 times away from the maximum theoretical performance. More applications and markets using GaN as the proof points have been made, and the inflection point is happening,” says Chuang.

He adds that despite the nearly three years of significant global economic and geopolitical headwinds, the GaN power semiconductor has established itself as a preferred product solution across multiple market segments, including data center, EV, industrial, and consumer electronics industries.

“It has accomplished this by uniquely solving some of the most pressing and critical power systems challenges around energy efficiency and design in these industries,” concludes Chuang.

By: DocMemory
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