September 18, 2024
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September 11, 2024, Infineon Technologies AG announced today that it has successfully developed the world's first 300 mm gallium nitride (GaN) power semiconductor wafer technology. Infineon is the first company in the world to master this breakthrough technology in an existing and scalable mass production environment. This breakthrough will greatly promote the development of the GaN power semiconductor market. Compared with 200 mm wafers, 300 mm wafer chip production is not only technically more advanced, but also because of the expansion of the wafer diameter, the number of chips on each wafer has increased by 2.3 times, and the efficiency has also been significantly improved.
GaN-based power semiconductors are rapidly gaining popularity in industrial, automotive, consumer, computing and communications applications, including AI system power supplies, solar inverters, chargers and adapters, and motor control systems. Advanced GaN manufacturing processes can improve device performance and bring many benefits to end-customer applications, including higher efficiency, smaller size, lighter weight and lower total cost. In addition, thanks to its scalability, the 300 mm manufacturing process offers extremely high stability in terms of customer supply.
Jochen Hanebeck, CEO of Infineon Technologies, said: “This significant success is the result of Infineon’s innovative strength and the hard work of our global teams, further demonstrating our position as an innovation leader in GaN and power systems. This technology Breakthroughs will drive industry change and enable us to fully realize the potential of GaN Systems. Nearly a year after acquiring GaN Systems, we once again demonstrate our determination to become a leader in the rapidly growing GaN market. Ling has mastered all three relevant materials: silicon, silicon carbide and gallium nitride.”
Infineon has successfully produced 300 mm GaN wafers at its power semiconductor wafer fab in Villach, Austria, using an integrated pilot line of existing 300 mm silicon production equipment. Infineon is leveraging its existing mature production capacity of 300 mm silicon and 200 mm GaN, and will further expand GaN production capacity based on market demand. With 300 mm GaN process technology, Infineon will drive the continuous growth of the GaN market. It is estimated that the GaN market will reach billions of dollars by the end of 2030.
This groundbreaking technological achievement underscores Infineon’s position as a global leader in semiconductors for power systems and IoT. Infineon is deploying 300 mm GaN technology to create more cost-effective products that can meet the full range of customer system needs to enhance existing solutions and enable new solutions and application areas. In November 2024, Infineon will demonstrate the first batch of 300 mm GaN wafers to the public at the Munich Electronics Show (electronica).
Because the manufacturing processes for GaN and silicon are very similar, a major advantage of 300 mm GaN technology is that it can leverage existing 300 mm silicon manufacturing equipment. Infineon's existing high-volume 300 mm silicon production lines are ideally suited to trial production of reliable GaN technology, both speeding up implementation and enabling efficient use of capital. The full-scale production of 300 mm GaN will help bring the cost of GaN and silicon close to the same RDS(on) level, which means that the cost of silicon and GaN products at the same level will be equal.
300 mm GaN is another milestone in Infineon’s strategic innovation leadership and will help achieve Infineon’s mission of low carbonization and digitalization.
