Infineon Technologies and Panasonic Corporation have signed an agreement to jointly develop and produce a second generation (Gen2) mature gallium nitride (GaN) technology that provides higher efficiency and power density levels. The combination of outstanding performance and reliability with the production capacity of 8-inch silicon-based gallium nitride wafers marks a strategic expansion of Infineon's growing demand for gallium nitride power semiconductors. According to market demand, Gen2 will be developed as 650V GaN HEMT. These devices will be easy to use and offer increased cost performance, targeting high and low power SMPS applications, renewable energy, motor drive applications, and more.

Gallium nitride (GaN) has a fundamental advantage over silicon for many designs. Compared with silicon MOSFETs, gallium nitride HEMTs have excellent dynamic specific on-resistance and smaller capacitance, making them more suitable for high-speed switching. The resulting energy savings and overall system cost reduction, the ability to operate at higher frequencies, higher power densities, and overall system efficiency, make Gans a very attractive option for design engineers.

"In addition to the same high reliability standards as Gen 1, next-generation customers will benefit from more manageable transistors and significantly improved cost positioning thanks to the shift to 8-inch wafer manufacturing," said Andreas Urschitz, President of Infineon Power and Sensor Systems. Like the co-developed first-generation devices (Infineon's CoolGaN™ and Panasonic's X-GaN™), the second-generation devices will be based on the normally closed silicon-based gallium nitride transistor structure combined with the unmatched robustness of the hybrid drain Embedded Gate-injected transistor (HD-GIT) structure. Making these components the product of choice and one of the most long-term reliable solutions in the market."

"We are excited to expand our partnership and collaboration with Infineon on gallium nitride components," said Tetsuzo Uedai, Deputy Director of the Engineering Department at Panasonic Industrial Solutions. In this joint approach, we will be able to offer high-quality first and second generation devices based on the latest innovative developments."