"Four ounces make a huge difference", how does wide bandgap technology lead to disruptive innovation?
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In the semiconductor industry, new material technologies have the power to bring about disruptive changes easily. Wide-bandgap semiconductor materials with inherent performance advantages stand out.
Across the entire energy conversion chain, the energy-saving potential of wide-bandgap semiconductors can contribute to long-term global energy-saving goals. Wide bandgap technology will promote power electronic devices to improve efficiency, increase density, reduce size, reduce weight, and reduce total cost. Therefore, it will contribute to energy efficiency improvements in application scenarios such as data centers, smart buildings, and personal electronic devices.
Wide bandgap materials explode application performance. How to do it?
The advantages of wide bandgap materials are mainly reflected in:
✦Compared
with traditional silicon-based semiconductor materials, wide bandgap products have wider and higher bandgap width, electric field strength, and higher breakdown voltage.
✦The
electron saturation migration rate of wide bandgap materials is 3 times faster than that of traditional silicon-based semiconductor materials, so wide bandgap semiconductor devices have higher switching frequencies. Silicon carbide like ST has a switching frequency of more than 100k, while gallium nitride has a higher switching frequency, reaching a switching frequency of more than 1MHz.
✦Better
thermal conductivity enables wide bandgap power devices to have better thermal performance, which can reduce the system’s thermal cooling requirements, greatly reducing the size of heat dissipation equipment and system costs. Materials with wide bandgaps have very high melting points, causing power devices to have higher junction temperatures.
The research and development of silicon carbide SiC and gallium nitride GaN wide bandgap power devices is the key to improving energy efficiency and performance of future industrial automation. STMicroelectronics continues technological innovation in these areas to provide industrial equipment with longer service life, higher operating efficiency and lower energy consumption, thus promoting the development of industrial automation in a greener and smarter direction.
STMicroelectronics silicon carbide products and technology planning
ST offers STPOWER SiC MOSFET products in different technologies with voltages ranging from 650V to 1700V. These devices can reduce energy loss by 50%, increase switching frequency, reduce product size, weight and total cost of ownership.
The advantages of ST silicon carbide MOSFET are mainly reflected in:
✦Lower
energy loss and Ron can be achieved at very high junction temperatures, suitable for higher switching frequencies and smaller and lighter power systems.
✦Excellent
thermal performance, due to the very high melting point of the material, the operating temperature can reach 200 degrees, which reduces the cooling requirements of the system and extends the service life.
✦Easy
to drive, fully compatible with all standard gate drivers currently on the market.
✦
Very fast and robust intrinsic body diode, facilitating more compact inverters.
ST is currently mass-producing third-generation SiC MOSFETs. Taking 1,200V as an example, the Ron x Area of the first-, second-, and third-generation products has been reduced exponentially. Its advantages are mainly:
✦The
smaller Ron x Area means that the overall output power has been improved, and the power module can achieve higher power in the same size.
✦
Ron x QG is reduced, allowing for higher switching frequency and lower switching losses.
ST's SiC MOSFET product portfolio includes 650V, 700V, 1,200V and 1,700V series. The third generation products mainly focus on 650V, 750V and 1,200V. 1,700V is used in large quantities in solar auxiliary power supplies. Silicon carbide MOSFETs above 2,000V are also under development.
ST's third-generation SiC MOSFET products provide a wide range of packaging options, including bare chips, discrete power packages (
STPAK, H2PAK-7L, HiP247-4L and HU3PAK
) and ACEPACK series power modules. These packages provide designers with innovative features, such as specially designed cooling fins that simplify the connection of the chip to the substrate and heat sink for electric vehicle applications. This way, designers can select a dedicated chip based on the application, for example, a power motor inverter. , on-board chargers (OBC), DC/DC converters, electronic air conditioning compressors, and industrial applications such as solar inverters, energy storage systems, motor drives, and power supplies.
Compared with traditional IGBT modules, the current cost of silicon carbide modules is still higher. As market players increase and production capacity gradually expands, its price will drop significantly and its advantages will become more obvious. Higher switching frequency and lower switching loss can reduce the size of peripheral circuits and reduce system costs, making silicon carbide modules the future development direction. Therefore, silicon carbide modules are also the main direction of ST's efforts.
STMicroelectronics Power GaN Product Technology Planning
GaN is regarded as another third-generation semiconductor device that is about to usher in large-scale commercial opportunities. GaN is mainly used in radio frequency and power devices, and ST's strategy is a two-pronged approach, laying out power conversion GaN and radio frequency power GaN technologies at the same time. It can complement SiC technology to meet customers' needs for power devices.
ST's GaN products are mainly used in switching power supplies with higher efficiency and higher power density. Market segments include server and communication power supplies, OBC and mechatronics platforms, as well as energy generation, charging stations and power conversion.
In December 2021, STMicroelectronics’ STPOWER product portfolio launched a new series-PowerGaN, and recently announced mass production. ST POWER™ GaN transistors improve the performance of wall plug power adapters, chargers, lighting systems, industrial power supplies, renewable energy generation, automotive electrification and other applications.
The main packaging forms of GaN products include
PowerFLAT 5x6 HV, DirectGaN DSC PEP, PowerFLAT 8x8 DSC, and LFPAK 12x12 TSC/BSC
.
PowerFLAT 5x6 HV has corresponding products in mass production and has been certified.
DirectGaN DSC PEP is a double-sided heat dissipation application with Kelvin source and flexible form factor.
PowerFLAT 8x8 DSC
also has double-sided heat dissipation and a smaller package. Also has a Kelvin source
,
using copper clip technology, with smaller parasitic parameters.
LFPAK 12x12 TSC/BSC
also uses copper clip technology, has
a Kelvin source
, higher reliability, smaller parasitic parameters, and lower thermal resistance. The package and corresponding products have fully passed all certifications and comply with automotive grade requirements such as AEC-Q101 .
ST recently released products in the PowerFLAT 5×6 package, and will soon launch PowerFLAT 8×8 and LFPAK 12×12 packages, as well as DirectGAN DSC.
In the future, GaN is also expected to enable new power conversion topologies to further improve energy efficiency and reduce power consumption. STMicroelectronics’ GaN devices will accelerate the transition of power conversion systems to GaN wide-bandgap technology.
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