News Article
Developing Physics-Based Models for WBG Semiconductors
DfR Solutions has announced that it has been chosen to participate in the Next Generation Power Electronics Innovation Institute, led by North Carolina State University.
The Institute is a $140 million advanced manufacturing consortium backed by the Obama Administration and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). It will unite 25 academic, government, and industry partners in an effort to revolutionize energy efficiency across a wide range of applications, including electronic devices, power grids and electric vehicles.
DfR Solutions was selected because of its leadership in the area of power electronics reliability and design in non-silicon based semiconductor devices.
DfR Solutions will help develop robust, physics-based models for high power wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor devices and packaging. By incorporating these models into the Sherlock Automated Design Analysis tool, critical reliability data will be available to all members of the Innovation Institute. The ability to make physics-based reliability predictions before prototyping will allow manufacturers to streamline product introduction, even with the latest technologies.
"We are honored to be chosen to contribute to such a ground-breaking initiative," stated DfR Solutions CEO Craig Hillman. "WBG technology is on the cutting edge of solid state power conversion. We expect to help accelerate adoption of this technology through the development and incorporation of physics-based predictions into our intuitive design analysis tool, Sherlock," says Hillman.
According to the White House, the Next Generation Power Electronics Innovation Institute is the first of three new manufacturing innovations institutes created to strengthen the US manufacturing sector, boost advanced manufacturing, and attract the good paying jobs that a growing middle class requires.
The institute is focused on enabling the next generation of energy-efficient, high-power electronic chips and devices by making wide bandgap semiconductor technologies cost-competitive with current silicon-based power electronics in the next five years. These improvements will make power electronic devices like motors, consumer electronics, and devices that support our power grid faster, smaller, and more efficient.
