The U.S. GaN company suddenly collapsed!

Recently, NexGen Power Systems, a young technology startup out of DeWitt, New York, closed its doors and laid off its employees. The sudden shutdown, which occurred just before Christmas, left the $100 million taxpayer-funded factory building deserted and silent.

NexGen Power Systems' opening of operations at the facility is intended to be a significant investment in the local economy and a beacon of hope for DeWitt residents. Now, the sudden closure of the company's factory has not only raised concerns about the local economy, but also raised questions about the role and effectiveness of public funds in the development of private enterprises.

New York taxpayers spent $100 million to build the plant five years ago, hoping it would bring prosperity and jobs to the region. However, the sudden end of NexGen Power Systems' presence at the facility has brought into sharp focus the issue of using public funds to promote private enterprise. The incident will undoubtedly fuel ongoing debates about the prudence, potential returns and associated risks of such investments.

In early 2023, NexGen Power Systems began shipping the world's first engineering samples of 700V and 1200V vertical GaN devices for high-power applications. According to them, the 1200V vertical GaN e-mode Fin-jFET is the only wide-bandgap device that has successfully demonstrated high-frequency switching at a nominal voltage of 1.4kV. Full production of the devices is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2023.

Vertical transistor structures use GaN on a GaN substrate instead of silicon used in planar devices.

“No other semiconductor device can match the performance characteristics offered by NexGen Vertical GaN, and we are very proud to be the first company to offer production samples of 700V and 1200V devices using GaN-on from our facility in Syracuse, NY. -GaN technology," said Shahin Sharifzadeh, the company's CEO.

“NexGen’s semiconductors will enable our customers to develop power solutions that are not possible using silicon, silicon carbide or gallium nitride on silicon technology. While many have been talking about it for decades, by the third quarter of 2023, NexGen Production-quality vertical GaN semiconductor devices will be available with operating voltages of 1200V and switching frequencies up to 10MHz while being able to withstand avalanche voltages of 1470V,” he said.

"After making significant manufacturing advances last year, we look forward to seeing our automotive, data center, LED lighting and industrial customers realize fundamental, market-changing, power efficiency and performance improvements in their products as we enter full production ,"He said.

NexGen is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and manufactures NexGen vertical GaN semiconductors at its facility in Syracuse, New York.

In August 2019, NexGen Power Systems moved into a $100 million high-tech facility built with state taxpayer dollars and began hiring workers.

The California-based startup has moved manufacturing equipment into an 82,200-square-foot facility at 50 Collamer Crossings Parkway in DeWitt and employs 22 people.

According to NexGen founder, CEO and President Dinesh Ramanathan at the time, the number of employees will increase to 36 people in the next three months as the company fine-tunes its power transistor manufacturing equipment.

Many of NexGen's jobs require advanced degrees, and Ramanathan said finding qualified local candidates isn't easy.

However, NexGen is looking for some good hires from computer chip maker GlobalFoundries, which laid off 455 employees in Malta and Albany last year.

Less than half of NexGen's employees come from GlobalFoundries, and Ramanathan said he expects to hire more.

“People are excited to move to Syracuse,” he said. "This is not a problem."

Ramanathan said the company expects to start producing transistors in July 2020 and then optimize its production process in the coming months.

He said that in early 2020, NexGen will begin providing transistor samples to customers for testing in its power converters, with full production planned to begin in the third quarter of 2020 (starting July 1).

The company pledged to create 290 full-time, permanent jobs at the facility over seven years in exchange for a grant of up to $15 million from the Empire State Development Corporation, New York's economic development arm.

"I don't think we can't hit those numbers," said Ramanathan, 49, who came to the United States from India in 1992 to earn a PhD in computer science from the University of California, Irvine.

Empire State Development has awarded NexGen $7.5 million in grants as of August 2019, and Ramanathan said he expects the total to reach $13 million when the company purchases all the equipment needed to equip its production line .

If NexGen does not meet its hiring commitments, it will be required to return all or part of the grant to the state.

The company is hiring equipment engineers, facilities technicians, process engineers and other support staff such as accountants and procurement specialists. Ramanathan's management team includes COO Shahin Sharifzadeh, a former senior vice president of global operations at Atmel Corporation, and vice president of manufacturing Rick Williamson, a 20-year veteran of the semiconductor industry.

The facility is being built at a cost of $90 million by SUNY Polytechnic's Fort Schuyler Management Corp., which is expected to lease it to Soraa Inc., a startup that plans to produce next-generation LED products.

In 2017, Soraa withdrew from the deal before construction of the building was completed.

Empire State Development took over the building in the wake of the SUNY Poly corruption scandal and subsequently struck a deal to lease the building to NexGen.

NexGen plans to produce power transistors based on gallium nitride technology, the same technology Soraa plans to use in its LED products.

Although the building was designed for Soraa, NexGen only required three modifications to it. Two tasks have been completed - making its cleanroom space cleaner and revamping its cold water system to eliminate the possibility of iron corroding NexGen's sensitive equipment.

Ramanathan said the third change - the installation of redundant power supplies - will be completed by National Grid in July.

NexGen plans to sell its transistors to makers of power converters for electric vehicles, data centers and solar inverters. Transistors made from gallium nitride are many times more efficient than those made from silicon, allowing the power converters they use to become smaller.

NexGen recently raised $25 million in funding from Swiss private equity firm Acal, Ramanathan said. That should be enough to fund the company until it starts production in 2020, he said.

NexGen remains headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and the company has nine employees. However, Ramanathan said all its manufacturing and R&D will be done in DeWitt.

"That's where the bulk of the company will be based," he said.

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