Loading...
News Article

Power electronics: an evolving landscape

News

Diamond, SiC IGBTs, and gallium oxide are technologies to look out for in the Long term, says Yole

Trends such as electrification, the growing use of batteries, and automation are boosting the demand for power electronics, driven by efforts to slow down climate change by reducing CO2 emissions and increasing system efficiency.

According to Yole's 'Status of the Power Electronics Industry 2022' report, the power electronics discrete and module device market will see a CAGR of 6.9 percent between 2021-2027, due to growing demand from electric and hybrid electric vehicles (xEV), factory automation, photovoltaics, wind turbines, UPS , and home appliances.

Yole forecasts that the total power semiconductor device market will reach $59.6 billion in 2027, with discrete and module power devices expected to reach $30.5 billion.

Milan Rosina, principal analyst, Power Electronics and Batteries at Yole Intelligence said: “2021 was marked by increasing global demand for power electronics that has basically impacted all major players. Looking closer at the top power electronics player’s rankings, we see that Infineon Technologies is a clear leader, far ahead of its two leading competitors: onsemi and STMicroelectronics. These companies are followed by many smaller power electronics players.”

Consolidation of the power electronics supply chain is expected in the coming years. From Yole Intelligence’s analysis, every ranked company will remain significant (although behind Infineon Technologies) provided it merges or acquire a company with a key product in its portfolio. Moreover, manufacturing capabilities need to be increased to be able to keep or increase their share of the market.

In addition, an increase in device design and back-end and testing capacity needs to be reinforced. In this regard, big investments have already been announced in power device manufacturing: more than $16 billion was spent on new facilities with at least partial power device production allocation during the 2020-2025 period.

Ana Villamor, team lead analyst for power electronics activities within the Power and Wireless division commented: “At Yole Intelligence, we estimate that there will be no disruptive power electronics technology coming to the market in the next few years since the last major disruption – the emergence of SiC & GaN – is still playing out and is grabbing a share of the traditional silicon market. Nevertheless, several technologies are being developed that will come to fruition in the long-term, such as diamond, SiC IGBTs, and gallium oxide.”

In any case, there is much happening in different areas (at system, device, and wafer levels) to reduce losses, lessen environmental imprint, and reduce costs. For instance, all technologies are moving to larger wafer sizes, toward 12-inch for power silicon devices and 8-inch for GaN and SiC, which will reduce costs.

QD company Quantum Science expands into new facility
Innoscience files lawsuit against Infineon
Riber revenues up 5% to €41.2m
Forvia Hella to use CoolSiC for next generation charging
Photon Design to exhibit QD simulation tool
Ortel transfers CW laser fabrication to Canada
Luminus adds red and blue multi-mode Lasers
PseudolithIC raises $6M for heterogeneous chiplet tech
Mesa sidewall design improves HV DUV LEDs
IQE revenue to exceed expectations
'Game-changing' VCSEL system targets clinical imaging
German start-up secures finance for SiC processing tech
Macom signs preliminaries for CHIPS Act funding
IQE and Quintessent partner on QD lasers for AI
EU funds perovskite tandems for fuel-free space propulsion
EU to invest €3m in GeSi quantum project
Transforming the current density of AlN Schottky barrier diodes
Turbocharging the GaN MOSFET with a HfO₂ gate
Wolfspeed launches Gen 4 SiC MOSFET technology
Report predicts high growth for UK's North East
Element Six unveils Cu-diamond composite
SemiQ launches hi-rel 1700V SiC MOSFETs
Lynred to exhibit Eyesential SWIR sensor for machine vision
Thorlabs buys VCSEL firm Praevium Research
Advancing tuneable InP lasers on a heterogeneous platform
P-GaN gate HEMTs have record threshold voltage
Guerrilla RF releases GaN power amplifier dice
Narrow-linewidth DFB lasers now at 405 and 488nm
Researchers develop tech for future fast-charging stations
Vermont GaN Tech Hub awarded nearly $24M
Onsemi completes buy-out of Qorvo SiC JFET business
Quantum Science announces Innovate UK funding
×
Search the news archive

To close this popup you can press escape or click the close icon.
Logo
x
Logo
×
Register - Step 1

You may choose to subscribe to the Compound Semiconductor Magazine, the Compound Semiconductor Newsletter, or both. You may also request additional information if required, before submitting your application.


Please subscribe me to:

 

You chose the industry type of "Other"

Please enter the industry that you work in:
Please enter the industry that you work in: