Application of SiC and GaN Power Semiconductors in Main Drive Inverters for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles

Key conclusions:

Emerging markets Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN) power semiconductors are expected to reach nearly $1 billion by 2020, driven by demand for hybrid and electric vehicles, power and photovoltaic (PV) inverters.

The use of SiC and GaN power semiconductors in hybrid and electric vehicle main drive inverters will result in a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 35% after 2017 and $10 billion in 2027.

By 2020, GaN-on-silicon (Si) transistors are expected to reach the same price as silicon metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) and insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), while also providing the same superior performance. . Once this benchmark is reached, the GaN electricity market in 2024 is expected to reach 600 million U.S. dollars, rising to over 1.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2027.

IHS Markit analysis

Expectations of continued strong growth in the SiC industry are high, with the main driving force being the growth in sales of hybrid and electric vehicles. The penetration of the market is also growing. Especially in China, Schottky diodes, MOSFETs, JFETs and other SiC discrete devices have appeared in production automotive DC-DC converters and on-board battery chargers. .

It is increasingly evident that the driveline main inverters—using SiC MOSFETs instead of Si insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs)—will begin to appear on the market within 3-5 years. Since a very large number of devices are used in the main inverter, much more than in DC-DC converters and on-vehicle chargers, this will rapidly increase equipment requirements. Perhaps at some point in time, inverter manufacturers eventually chose a custom full SiC power module instead of SiC discrete devices. Integration, control and packaging optimization are the main advantages of modular assembly.

Not only will the number of SiC devices per vehicle increase, but also the new global registration requirements for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) will increase by 10 times between 2017 and 2027. Because many governments around the world are targeting to reduce air pollution while reducing the number of vehicles that rely on burning fossil fuels. China, India, France, the United Kingdom, and Norway have announced plans to ban cars with internal combustion engines in the coming decades and replace them with cleaner vehicles. The prospects of electrified vehicles will generally be very good as a result, especially for wide bandgap semiconductors.

SiC

Compared with the first-generation semiconductor material Si and the second-generation semiconductor material GaAs, SiC has more excellent physical and chemical properties. These properties include high thermal conductivity, high hardness, chemical resistance, high temperature resistance, transparency to light waves, and the like. The excellent thermal and radiation resistance characteristics of SiC materials also make it one of the preferred materials for the preparation of UV photodetectors. In addition, SiC-based sensors can compensate for the performance deficiencies of Si-based sensors in harsh environments such as high temperatures and high pressures, resulting in a wider space for application. The wide bandgap semiconductor power device represented by SiC is currently one of the fastest growing power semiconductor devices in the field of power electronics.

SiC power electronic devices mainly include power diodes and transistors (transistors, switches). SiC power devices can multiply power, temperature, frequency, radiation resistance, efficiency, and reliability of power electronics systems, resulting in significant reductions in volume, weight, and cost. The application of SiC power devices can be divided by voltage:

Low-voltage applications (600 V to 1.2 kV): high-end consumer areas (such as game consoles, plasma and LCD TVs), commercial applications (such as notebook computers, solid-state lighting, electronic ballasts, etc.) and other fields (such as medical, Telecommunications, defense, etc.)

Medium voltage applications (1.2kV to 1.7kV): EV/HEV, solar photovoltaic inverter, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and industrial motor drive (AC Drive).

High-voltage applications (2.5kV, 3.3kV, 4.5kV, and 6.5kV and above): wind power generation, locomotive traction, high-voltage/high-voltage transmission and transformation, etc.

The largest inhibitor of SiC device growth may be GaN devices. The first GaN transistor that complies with the automotive AEC-Q101 specification was released by Transphorm in 2017, and GaN devices fabricated on GaN-on-Si epitaxial wafers have a very low cost and are more than any product on SiC wafers. easy. For these reasons, GaN transistors may become the first choice in inverters of the late 2020s, outperforming the more expensive SiC MOSFETs.

Transphorm's innovative Cascode structure

In recent years, the most interesting story about GaN power devices is the arrival of GaN system integrated circuits (ICs), that is, GaN transistors are packaged together with silicon gate driver ICs or monolithic full GaN ICs. Once their performance is optimized for mobile phones and laptop chargers and other high-volume applications, it is likely to be widely available in a wider range. On the contrary, the commercialization of GaN power diodes has never really begun because they failed to provide more significant benefits relative to Si devices, and related developments have proven to be too expensive and not feasible. SiC Schottky diodes have been well used for this goal and have a good pricing roadmap.

GaN

GaN power devices and other types of power semiconductors are used in the power electronics field. Basically, power electronics use various solid-state electronic components to more efficiently control and convert electrical energy from anything from smartphone chargers to large power plants. In these solid-state components, the chip handles switching and power conversion functions.

GaN is an ideal choice for these applications. Based on germanium and III-V nitrides, GaN is a wide bandgap process, which means it is faster than traditional silicon-based devices and can provide higher breakdown voltages.

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