GaN adoption at tipping point, says Infineon
In its 2025 predictions, Infineon says GaN will be a game-changing material across consumer, mobility, residential solar, telecommunication, and AI data centre industries, enabling more efficient performance, smaller size, lighter weight, and lower overall cost .
While USB-C chargers and adapters have been the forerunners, GaN is now on its way to reaching tipping points in its adoption in further industries, substantially driving the market for GaN-based power semiconductors, according to Infineon.
”Infineon is committed to driving decarbonisation and digitalisation through innovation based on all semiconductor materials Si, SiC, and GaN,” said Johannes Schoiswohl, head of the GaN business line at Infineon. “The relevance of comprehensive power systems will increase with GaN manifesting its role due to its benefits in efficiency, density, and size. Given that cost-parity with silicon is in sight, we will see an increased adoption rate for GaN this year and beyond.
Powering AI will be highly depending on GaN. The rapid increase of required computing power and energy demand in AI data centres will drive the need for advanced solutions capable of handling the substantial loads associated with AI servers. Power supplies that once managed 3.3 kW are now evolving towards 5.5 kW, with projections moving towards 12 kW or more per unit.
By using GaN, AI data centres can improve power density, which directly influences the amount of computational power that can be delivered within a given rack space. While GaN presents clear advantages, hybrid approaches combining GaN with Si and SiC are ideal for meeting the requirements of AI data centres and achieving the best trade-offs between efficiency, power density and system cost.
In the home appliance market, Infineon expects GaN to gain significant traction, driven by the need for higher energy efficiency ratings in applications like washing machines, dryers, refrigerators and water/heat pumps. In 800 W applications, for example, GaN can enable a two percent efficiency gain, which can help manufacturers achieve the coveted A ratings.
According to Infineon, GaN-based on-board chargers and DC-DC converters in electric vehicles will contribute to a higher charging efficiency, power density, and material sustainability, with a shift towards 20 kW+ systems. Together with high-end SiC solutions, GaN will also enable more efficient traction inverters for both 400 V and 800 V EV systems, contributing to an increased driving range.
In 2025 and beyond, robotics will see widespread adoption of GaN supported by the material's ability to enhance compactness, driving growth in delivery drones, care robots and humanoid robots. As robotics technology integrates AI advancements like natural language processing and computer vision, GaN will provide the efficiency required for compact, high-performance designs. Integrating inverters within the motor chassis eliminates the inverter heatsink while reducing cabling to each joint/axis and simplifying EMC design.
Infineon says it is further pushing investment in GaN research and development to overcome the challenges of cost and scalability. These include 300 mm GaN wafer manufacturing and bidirectional switch (BDS) transistors.
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