Infineon has achieved a major milestone in the power electronics industry by developing the world’s first 12-inch (300mm) Gallium Nitride (GaN) wafer. The company announced this breakthrough on September 11, revealing that the GaN wafer was successfully produced at their Villach power semiconductor facility in Austria, using an existing 12-inch silicon semiconductor production line.
This advancement marks a significant step forward for GaN technology, allowing for a 2.3x increase in chip production per wafer compared to the older 8-inch model. Infineon CEO Jochen Hanebeck highlighted the achievement as a testament to the company's innovation, further solidifying its leadership in the GaN market. He noted that this technological leap positions Infineon to fully unlock GaN’s potential in the power systems sector, enhancing efficiency and performance.
One of the key benefits of this 12-inch GaN technology is its compatibility with existing 300mm silicon manufacturing equipment, accelerating the integration and scalability of GaN production. Infineon aims to achieve cost parity between GaN and silicon products by meeting certain performance metrics, such as R_DS(on).
Infineon plans to showcase this breakthrough technology at the electronica 2024 trade fair in Munich and expects the GaN market to reach multibillion-dollar scale by the end of the decade.
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