Will 2022 be the year that gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors displace silicon semiconductors in a major way? Maybe not, but it is increasingly clear that GaN is coming for silicon’s market share soon, and automotive power applications are one big reason why.
GaN-based on-board chargers (OBCs) for electric vehicles are estimated to charge 3x faster with up to 70% energy savings compared to legacy silicon solutions, according to Navitas Semiconductor. GaN OBCs, DC-DC converters and traction inverters are estimated to extend EV range or reduce battery costs by 5%, and to accelerate adoption of EVs worldwide by three years, the company added. An EV-upgrade to GaN is estimated to reduce road-sector CO2 emissions by 20% per year by 2050, the target of the Paris Accord.
“GaN is a racehorse,” said Stephen Oliver, vice president of corporate marketing and investor relations at Navitas, in a recent interview with Fierce Electronics. “It wants to run at high speed.”
Oliver said he sees 2025 a “wedge” year when GaN gains a firm foothold and starts to displace silicon, as well as silicon carbide (SiC), another potential heir to the silicon throne that primarily has been positioned toward higher-power applications. Automotive applications, and EVs in particular, could be the market driving this change, an expectation also highlighted last year by GaN Systems, another GaN semiconductor firm.
“Cars don’t evolve their semiconductor technology very quickly, but in the next three years we will see silicon carbide, which is a more mature technology, eat into the share of silicon, and the GaN begin to eat into the share of both silicon and silicon carbide,” Oliver said, adding that Navitas expects to start seeing real GaN automotive revenue in 2025.
This translates to a bright future for GaN-based power integrated circuits, and goes a long way toward explaining why Navitas is investing more in GaN for automotive, and recently announced the opening of a new electric vehicle (EV) Design Center in Shanghai, China, to help accelerate and expand its GaN market ambitions.
The design center puts Navitas in closer proximity to key customers, including China’s EVTECH and the strategic partnership established by Swiss firm Brusa Elektonik AG and China-based Inovance. Navitas also is able to tap into a talent pool in the region created by many “middleman” power supply manufacturers as its design center staffs up, Oliver said.
The expert talent Navitas has brought include the widely-respected Hao SUN, the new Senior Director of the Shanghai Design Center, who said in a statement announcing the Shanghai center, “The design center will develop schematics, layouts, and firmware for full-function, productizable EV power systems. Navitas will work in partnership with OBC, DC-DC and traction system companies to create innovative, world-class solutions with the highest power density and highest efficiency to propel GaN into mainstream eMobility.”
The company said high-power 650V GaN ICs tailored to EV applications were sampled to EV customers last month. Also, a 6.6kW OBC concept made an appearance at the recent CES 2022 event.