Yaskawa Electric invests $15 million in Transphorm
Japanese motion control and robotics firm funds further development of the GaN technology used in its latest servo motors
Transphorm, a US company making hi-rel 650V GaN semiconductors, has received a $15 million investment from Japanese motion control and robotics firm Yaskawa Electric.
This news comes only a few weeks after Yaskawa revealed its integrated Σ-7 F servo motor relies on Transphorm's high-voltage (HV) GaN to deliver unprecedented performance and power density. Transphorm intends to allocate the funds to various areas of its GaN product development.
"We've seen the benefits of working with GaN from the R&D phases through to the application development phases of our products, such as photovoltaic converters and the integrated Σ-7 F servo motor," said Yukio Tsutsui, general manager of Yaskawa's corporate R&D centre. "We look ahead to further developments from Transphorm and its cutting-edge technology."
The integrated Σ-7 F products resulting from the companies' co-development serves one of the core target markets that can benefit most from HV GaN: servo motors. The technology is also an optimal solution for automotive systems, data centre and industrial power supplies, renewable energy and other broad industrial applications.
"Transphorm has consistently prioritised the quality and reliability of our GaN platform," said Umesh Mishra, Chairman, CTO and co-founder of Transphorm. "That focus leads to strong customer relationships with visionaries such as Yaskawa and companies that not only innovate, but also influence market growth by demonstrating GaN's real-world impact. Receiving Yaskawa's recent support illustrates the rising confidence in GaN while underscoring its reliability."
