Types of Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Materials Favoring Energy-Efficient Applications across Industries

Highlights:

• What makes wide bandgap semiconductors more useful?
• Widely used wide bandgap semiconductors
• Beneficial agreement made by Silvaco Group
• Profitable alliances by leading players in the domain

In few decades, the semiconductor industry has undergone huge transformation by working on providing smaller sizes and greater efficiencies. Wide bandgap semiconductor materials have emerged as powerful elements in shaping the future of the power electronics industry. Gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) are the promising semiconductor materials that are widely used across various industries including automotive, electronics, and energy., offering energy efficiency, enhanced performance, and new possibilities.

What actually is a wide bandgap semiconductor?

Unlike traditional semiconductor materials such as silicon, the wide bandgap semiconductor materials such as silicon nitride, offers wider bandgap that plays an important role in enhancing their electronic behavior. This feature enables these semiconductors to operate at higher temperatures, frequencies, and voltages, making them suitable for various energy-efficiency and performance across various applications.

The bandgap of a semiconductor is the energy difference between its valence band and its conduction band. This energy gap determines whether the material acts as an insulator, semiconductor, or conductor. Wide-bandgap semiconductors possess remarkable large bandgap, typically exceeding 3 electron volts (eV). Semiconductor materials such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium carbide (GaN) are engineered to have wide bandgaps. These wider bandgaps help them reduce energy loss during operation, making them more energy efficient.

Popular wide bandgap semiconductor materials

There are several types of wide bandgap semiconductor materials among which silicon carbide, gallium nitride, and diamond and aluminum nitride. Among these, silicon carbide is a prominent wide-bandgap semiconductor that is mainly known for its robustness, and high-temperature tolerance. Silicon-carbide has a thermal conductivity of 5 W/cmK, therefore, it is widely advantageous in high-power and high-temperature applications such as communication systems used in satellites, aircraft, and military equipment, electronic systems used in automotive, medical devices, and automation system used in robotics, high-frequency switching applications. Because of its wide applicability, the silicon carbide segment is expected to hold the highest market share in the industry, generating a revenue of $1,827 million from 2023 to 2032.

Gallium nitride is one of another popular types of wide bandgap material that possesses remarkable properties. GaN possesses an electron mobility of 2,000 cm^2/Vs which is much higher than that of silicon carbide. Because of having such properties, it is widely applicable for high-frequency applications such as RF amplifiers and high-speed communication systems. Moreover, because of its greater energy efficiency, GaN is also gaining traction in power electronics and LED lighting.

How is the move of Silvaco Group beneficial for the industry?

In January 2024, Silvaco Group, Inc., a leading developer of electronic design automation and technology signed an agreement with GaN ValleyTM, a leading technology hub in Europe. With this agreement, the companies envisioned to advance the state-of-the-art in designing efficient gallium nitride power electronics to develop Victory TCAD Platform, a comprehensive simulation environment. This platform incorporates various numerical methods, physical models, a modern graphical user interface, and SPICE model generation. This platform would help customers to innovate and efficiently design and optimize the performance of power devices using GaN-based semiconductors.

Some profitable partnerships among top players that businesses should take note of

To stay ahead in the competitive landscape, several leading players in the wide bandgap semiconductors industry have come up made alliances such as mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, and collaborations. For instance, in February 2024, Infineon Technologies AG, a leading Germany-based semiconductor manufacturer announced its partnership with Wolfspeed, Inc., an American developer and manufacturer of wide-bandgap semiconductors. With this partnership, the companies aimed to enhance the production capability of silicon carbide wafers to meet the growing demand for its use in semiconductor products in various sectors including electric vehicles, solar, automotive, and energy storage systems.

Similarly, in June 2023, Vitesco Technologies, a German automotive supplier for drivetrain and powertrain technologies partnered with ROHM, a Japanese electronic parts manufacturer. In this partnership, the companies aimed to develop energy-efficient power electronics such as electric car inverters by using silicon carbide power semiconductors.

To conclude, the increase in demand for high-performance and power-efficient electronics among consumers is expected to increase the demand for wide bandgap semiconductors in the future. Furthermore, the continuous advancements in material science and semiconductor manufacturing techniques are anticipated to create immense growth opportunities for the market in the coming years.

To gain more insights into the wide bandgap semiconductors industry, feel free to talk to our esteemed analysts today! They can help you identify more potential investment opportunities across various regions.

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