News Article
Toyoda Gosei Develops high current 1.2kV GaN transistor
Operating current of over 20A demonstrated with 1.5mm square vertical GaN transistor
Toyoda Gosei has developed what it claims is the world's first 1.2 kV class power semiconductor device capable of large current operation exceeding 20A.
The device was fabricated using GaN.
Toyoda Gosei began its research on GaN for power semiconductors in 2010 using the crystal growth technology cultivated since 1986 in the development and production of blue LEDs. Previously, low loss 1.2 kV MOSFETs were fabricated on GaN substrates and then empirically tested. The company has now established wiring technology for the parallel operation of elements, successfully passing an electrical current exceeding 20A in a vertical GaN transistor with a 1.5mm square chip size. This is the first time that has ever been achieved, according to the company.
Applications for the technology are power controllers on hybrid vehicles that handle large amounts of power, and power converters such as those in solar power generation.
The company says it is continuing research to increase the current capacity and test reliability with the aim of developing commercial applications by about 2018to 2020 in collaboration with semiconductor and electronics manufacturers.
A report on this technology was accepted for presentation as late news at the 28th IEEE International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices and ICs (ISPSD) in June.
