TI adds GaN manufacturing in Japan
Texas Instruments (TI) has begun production of GaN-based power semiconductors at its factory in Aizu, Japan. Coupled with its existing GaN manufacturing in Dallas, Texas, TI will now internally manufacture four times more GaN-based power semiconductors, as Aizu ramps to production.
"Building on more than a decade of expertise in GaN chip design and manufacturing, we have successfully qualified our 200mm GaN technology – the most scalable and cost-competitive way to manufacture GaN today – to start mass production in Aizu," said Mohammad Yunus, TI's senior vice president of Technology and Manufacturing. "This milestone enables us to manufacture more of our GaN chips internally as we grow our internal manufacturing to more than 95 percent by 2030, while also sourcing from multiple TI locations, ensuring a reliable supply of our entire GaN portfolio of high-power, energy-efficient semiconductors."
Kannan Soundarapandian, vice president of High-Voltage Power at TI said: "As designers of systems such as server power, solar energy generation and AC/DC adapters face challenges to reduce power consumption and enhance energy efficiency, they are increasingly demanding a reliable supply of TI's high-performance GaN-based chips. TI's product portfolio of integrated GaN power stages enables customers to achieve higher power density, improved ease of use and lower system cost."
TI says its new capacity enables increased product performance and manufacturing process efficiency, as well as a cost advantage. Also, the more advanced, efficient tools used in TI's expanded GaN manufacturing can produce smaller chips, packing even more power. This design innovation can be manufactured using less water, energy and raw materials, and end products that use GaN chips enjoy these same environmental benefits.
The performance benefits of TI's added GaN manufacturing also enable the company to scale its GaN chips to higher voltages, starting with 900V and increasing to higher voltages over time, furthering power-efficiency and size innovations for applications like robotics, renewable energy and server power supplies.
TI says its expanded investment includes a successful pilot earlier this year for development of GaN manufacturing processes on 300mm wafers.
