Power Semiconductors Weekly+ Vol. 08

onsemi Announces New Chief Human Resources Officer

onsemi, a leader in intelligent power and sensing technologies, announced the appointment of Padma Thiruvengadam as the company’s new Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), effective December 12, 2022. In this role, she is leading onsemi’s people-centered activities – overseeing talent acquisition and development; DEI; total rewards as well as HR systems, insights and analytics – to enable a best-in-class employee experience. Thiruvengadam succeeds Tobin Cookman, who led the HR team since 2012 and contributed over 25 years of outstanding service to onsemi.

As the new CHRO, Thiruvengadam is also a steward of onsemi’s culture and values, which are shaping and supporting the company’s growth and bottom line. She will direct people strategy, drive innovation and ensure the right talent is in place to deliver exceptional people and customer experience.

“Padma has built her career elevating organizational performance across global enterprises in multiple industries,” said Hassane El-Khoury, president and chief executive officer at onsemi. “As a hands-on leader with expertise in guiding companies through growth and transformation while focusing on corporate strategy and people objectives for both domestic and international markets, she is the ideal CHRO for onsemi. We are thrilled to welcome her to onsemi and have her join as a member of the executive staff.”

Through her impressive career, Thiruvengadam has excelled at aligning strategy and execution, business and people, to positively impact corporate success. In her most recent role as CHRO at Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, she transformed the organization to deliver on a new strategy and played an important role in refreshing corporate philosophy and purpose. During this time, she led the company to achieve Global Top Employer certification for three years in a row and through the integration of the largest acquisition in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to that, Thiruvengadam served as the CPO for The LEGO Group, CHRO and CVP of Strategic Initiatives and Operational Excellence for Integra Life Sciences. She held several other executive roles in human resources and general management at global companies.

Original – onsemi

Dongfeng’s SiC Modules to Be Mass Produced in 2023

Chinese automotive giant Dongfeng Motor is building its own next-generation power semiconductors, becoming the latest local automaker to undertake such an effort.

Dongfeng launched a silicon carbide (SiC) power module manufacturing project in January 2021, and the modules will be mass-produced in 2023 and be loaded in the company’s new energy passenger cars, it announced on Monday.

SiC modules are an upgrade to IGBT (insulated gate bipolar transistor chip) modules, a third-generation power semiconductor with higher efficiency, high-temperature resistance and high-voltage characteristics, a Dongfeng article reads.

The modules will help upgrade the electrical architecture of new energy vehicles (NEVs) from 400V to 800V, allowing them to charge from 0 to 80 percent in just 10 minutes, Dongfeng said.

The SiC modules can also improve the range of NEVs and reduce vehicle costs, the company said.

This is Dongfeng’s latest effort to produce its own power semiconductor modules. In July 2021, the company announced that its production line with an annual capacity of 300,000 IGBT modules went into operation at its NEV industrial park in Wuhan.

The production line is the first phase of Dongfeng’s project, and its second phase, with a total investment of 280 million yuan ($40.32 million), is also moving forward, the company said Monday.

The new project will optimize the existing production line to increase production of IGBT power modules and will also see the establishment of two brand new production lines to produce IGBT modules and SiC modules, respectively, it said.

By 2025, the projects could produce about 1.2 million power modules per year, Dongfeng said.

In addition to IGBT modules and SiC modules, Dongfeng is also getting into MCU chips. The company will work with China Information and Communication Technology Group to establish a joint lab for automotive chips.

The two will push for automotive MCU chips to be produced in Wuhan, with mass production expected in 2024, Dongfeng said. Dongfeng has also worked with local chip foundry SMIC to complete the design of the company’s first MCU chip, the company said.

Original – CnEVPost

onsemi’s EliteSiC Family of Silicon Carbide (SiC) Technologies Enhance Performance of Ampt’s DC Optimizers

onsemi, a leader in intelligent power and sensing technologies, and Ampt LLC, the world’s number one DC optimizer company for large-scale photovoltaic (PV) solar and energy storage systems, announced their collaboration to meet the high demand for DC string optimizers. Ampt uses onsemi’s N-Channel SiC MOSFET, part of the EliteSiC family of silicon carbide (SiC) technologies, in its DC string optimizers for critical power switching applications.

Ampt string optimizers are used in large-scale PV power plants, enabling lower-cost and higher performing solar and DC-coupled energy storage systems that are collocated within the solar power plant. The string optimizers deliver power from the PV array at a high and fixed voltage for system voltages ranging from 600 to 1500 VDC, reducing the overall current requirements and cost of the power plant. Ampt optimizers enable higher round-trip – charging and discharging – efficiency in the energy storage system and solar power plant by leveraging onsemi’s latest SiC MOSEFT technology with lowest ON resistance and switching loses.

“Incorporating onsemi’s EliteSiC technology into our DC optimizers helps utility scale solar developers and owners improve their project economics,” said Levent Gun, CEO of Ampt. “Clearly, the product performance was a critical decision point for us, but onsemi’s technical support during the design phase and their ongoing supply assurance to support Ampt’s rapid scaling are the hallmarks of a strong partner.”

The EliteSiC device offers an RDS(on) of 80 mΩ nominally and a low gate charge (Qg) value of 56 nC along with lower Rg of 1.7Ohms. It is capable of operating at junction temperatures of 175°C, reducing the thermal management requirements in applications, resulting in smaller, lower cost solutions.

“The combination of performance and reliability of our EliteSiC technology enables efficient and dependable DC optimizers and is what an industry leader such as Ampt expects,” said Simon Keeton, executive vice president and general manager, Power Solutions Group, onsemi. “We look forward to a continued collaboration on new products that drive renewable energy applications forward on our journey to a sustainable ecosystem.”

Original – onsemi

Power Up Your Solar Performance

Cost, performance and time to market are very much on engineers’ minds when they set out to design a solar inverter or an energy storage system. Our advice is to go with the flow. Vincotech`s flowNPC, flowANPC and flowFC inverters have everything it takes to help meet these requirements and make your product a best-seller. With this extensive range of inverters featuring optimized Si and SiC components, the right engineering decision has never been easier to make.

Available in low inductance flow 2 and flow S3 housings and tailored for 1500 V systems, these modules are your first and best choice for the latest generation of high-power solar inverter and energy storage systems.

Main benefits:

Highest power density for light and compact systems
Wide power range up to 350 kW
Available in flow 2 and flow S3 housings
Multiple substrate options for optimized thermal performance
Solder or Press-fit pins and pre-applied TIM to help reduce production cost

Original – Vincotech

Magnachip Introduces 8th-Gen 150V MXT MOSFET for Light Electric Vehicles

Magnachip Semiconductor Corporation (“Magnachip”) announced that the company has launched its eighth-generation 150V MXT Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor (MOSFET)1 optimized for Light Electric Vehicle (LEV) motor controllers and battery management systems (BMSs).

Energy efficiency plays a critical role in electric devices when it comes to power consumption and product stability. This newly-released MOSFET (MDT15N054PTRH) features Magnachip’s eighth-generation trench MOSFET technology to lower RDS(on)2 by 28%, as compared to the previous generation. Based on the enhanced design of the core cell and termination, a high figure of merit can be achieved and an increase in the total gate charge3 can be avoided.

MDT15N054PTRH is available in a surface mount device TO-Leadless (TOLL) package to reduce product size and improve heat dissipation. The energy efficiency is also significantly enhanced by fast switching, while enabling high power density. In addition, a guaranteed operating junction temperature from -55°C up to 175°C and a high level of avalanche ruggedness help the new MXT MOSFET to exceed the performance requirements of LEV motor controllers and BMSs.

“Beginning in 2008 we have released more than 40 MOSFET products for motor controllers and battery management systems and, since 2017, most of them have been made for LEV applications,” said YJ Kim, CEO of Magnachip. “As a provider of high-performance MOSFETs, Magnachip will continue to deliver innovative solutions that meet the sophisticated requirements of the market.”

Product features:

low RDS(on) and switching loss
great heat dissipation performance
guaranteed operating junction temperature from -55°C up to 175°C
a wide range of applications, such as LEV motor controllers and BMSs and switch mode power supplies for various consumer electronics

Original – Magnachip

onsemi Silicon Carbide Power Module for Traction Inverters Selected for Hyundai Motor Group’s High Performance Electric Vehicles

onsemi, a leader in intelligent power and sensing technologies, announced that onsemi’s EliteSiC family of silicon carbide (SiC) power modules has been selected for Kia Corporation’s EV6 GT model. The electric vehicle (EV) accelerates from zero to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds and reaches top speed at 161 mph. Within the traction inverter of a high performance EV, the EliteSiC power module enables high-efficiency power conversion from the DC 800 V of the battery to the AC drive for the rear axle. onsemi continues to collaborate with Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation (HMC/KIA) to use the EliteSiC technology for the upcoming high performance EVs based on HMC/KIA’s Electric – Global Module Platform (E-GMP).

onsemi’s high-power density SiC power module delivers the most innovative package technology to minimize parasitics and thermal resistance and offers robust package reliability using innovative interconnects. This leads to reduced power losses associated with DC to AC conversion along with reduced size and weight of the traction inverter, increasing performance and EV range by 5%.

With decades of superior packaging expertise in high-density power solutions for automotive applications, onsemi differentiated power module technology delivers industry-leading power traction solutions. Exceptional packaging technology alongside an evolutionary path from planar to trench cell structures in SiC enable onsemi to provide highly robust and reliable solutions to industry leader HKMC/KIA.

“Our collaboration with HMC/KIA is rooted in the superior performance of our EliteSiC technology,” said Simon Keeton, executive vice president and general manager, Power Solutions Group, onsemi. “As important is our quickly growing, vertically integrated SiC supply chain that allows onsemi to plan for the necessary scale to support high-volume production for EVs.”

Original – onsemi

Wolfspeed Appoints Stacy Smith to Board of Directors

Wolfspeed, Inc., the global leader in Silicon Carbide technology, announced that Stacy Smith has been appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors, effective January 23, 2023. Mr. Smith is the Executive Chairman of Kioxia Corporation (formerly Toshiba Memory Corporation), a leading flash memory company, and Non-Executive Chair of the Board at Autodesk, Inc., a global leader in design and make technology.

“With his vast experience in the technology and semiconductor industries, Stacy will be an invaluable asset for Wolfspeed as we work to capitalize on the steepening demand for Silicon Carbide power devices across the e-mobility, industrial and renewable markets,” said Wolfspeed Chairman of the Board Darren Jackson. “It is our honor to welcome Stacy to the Board, and we look forward to his contributions and expertise as Wolfspeed continues to lead the transition from silicon to Silicon Carbide.”

“I am really excited to join the Wolfspeed Board and work to help Wolfspeed scale and grow their leadership position in a fast-growing and important market,” said Mr. Smith.

Prior to his Board positions, Mr. Smith worked at Intel Corporation for three decades in a variety of roles including as Group President of Sales, Manufacturing and Operations, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Information Officer, and Head of Europe Middle East and Africa.

Mr. Smith’s management positions with Intel Corporation, including his finance and executive roles, provide him with critical insight into the operational requirements of a global company and the management and consensus-building skills necessary to serve on Wolfspeed’s Board of Directors. He also holds positions on the California Chapter of The Nature Conservancy Board of Trustees and University of Texas McCombs School of Business Advisory Board. Prior Board roles include serving on the Board of Virgin America Airlines and GEVO, a biofuels company.

Original – Wolfspeed

Silicon Carbide Semiconductor Supplier Selects Aehr FOX System for Wafer Level Test and Burn-in of Silicon Carbide Devices for Automotive Electric Vehicles

Aehr Test Systems, a worldwide supplier of semiconductor production test and reliability qualification equipment, announced that a new customer has selected its FOX-PTM test and burn-in system to be used for qualification and production wafer level test and burn-in of their silicon carbide devices for automotive electric vehicles.

This new customer, who is a supplier of silicon carbide and gallium nitride semiconductors, selected Aehr’s FOX solution based on its proven ability to cost-effectively implement their target burn-in and stabilization requirements including 100% traceability that every device on the wafer is properly burned in.

This customer will begin their device qualification using a world leading outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) supplier that has partnered with Aehr and has FOX-P system capacity installed and capable of doing silicon carbide full wafer level test and burn-in of 100% of devices per wafer in a single insertion. The customer will purchase the proprietary FOX WaferPakTM full wafer contactors and applications test programs from Aehr, and testing services from the assembly and test supplier for the initial device qualification. Upon qualification of the devices, the customer is expected to purchase new FOX-P system and WaferPak capacity directly from Aehr or through this OSAT.

Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, commented, “We are very excited to announce another new customer that has selected our FOX solution to test and burn-in their silicon carbide devices. Traceability and proof that each device is burned in for the needed test duration, without any chance of a test escape that might allow a device to get through the process and later fail in the field, is critical to the automotive applications these devices will be used in. In the case of silicon carbide used in the traction inverters that convert the high voltage DC battery power to AC current that drives the electric engines, a device failure results in a ‘walk home event,’ where the driver and all passengers get out of the vehicle and walk home.

“Aehr’s FOX-P systems and proprietary WaferPak full wafer Contactors enable our customers to do economical production volume test and reliability burn-in with processes such as High Temperature Gate Bias (HTGB) and High Temperature Reverse Bias (HTRB) very cost effectively and ensure extremely high device quality. Our systems provide test cycle duration lasting for 12, 18, or 24 hours or more for pennies or cents per device capital depreciation cost, and in a footprint that is up to 18 times less than a typical test system on a standard semiconductor wafer prober offered by alternative suppliers.

“Aehr has teamed with this OSAT to provide turnkey support of multiple applications including silicon photonics devices used in data, 5G, and future central processing units (CPUs) and chipsets, in addition to silicon carbide and gallium nitride used in electric vehicles, solar, industrial and other infrastructure. We encourage companies interested in learning more about this OSAT partnership with Aehr to contact our sales department to learn more.

“Forecasts from William Blair estimate that the silicon carbide market for devices in electric vehicles alone, such as traction inverters and on-board chargers, is expected to grow from 119,000 6-inch equivalent silicon carbide wafers for electric vehicles in 2021 to more than 4.1 million 6-inch equivalent wafers in 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 48.4%. This equates to almost 35 times larger in 2030 than in 2021. In addition, 6-inch equivalent silicon carbide wafers for other markets such as solar, industrial, and other electrification infrastructure are expected to grow to another three million wafers by 2030.

“The FOX family of compatible systems including the FOX-NP and FOX-XP multi-wafer test and burn-in systems and Aehr’s proprietary WaferPak full wafer contactors provide a uniquely cost-effective solution for burning in multiple wafers of devices at a single time to remove early life failures of silicon carbide devices, which is critical to meeting the initial quality and long-term reliability the automotive, industrial, and electrification infrastructure industry needs. The FOX-XP system can be configured with up to 9 or 18 wafers depending on the customer’s specific test requirements and power configuration and is fully compatible with Aehr’s FOX-NP system, which is a two-wafer system that is a great fit for new product introduction and qualification.”

The FOX-XP and FOX-NP systems, available with multiple WaferPak Contactors (full wafer test) or multiple DiePakTM Carriers (singulated die/module test) configurations, are capable of functional test and burn-in/cycling of devices such as silicon carbide and gallium nitride power semiconductors, silicon photonics as well as other optical devices, 2D and 3D sensors, flash memories, magnetic sensors, microcontrollers, and other leading-edge ICs in either wafer form factor, before they are assembled into single or multi-die stacked packages, or in singulated die or module form factor.

Original – Aehr Test Systems

CEA and Renault Develop Wide-Bandgap-Based Bidirectional On-Board Charger for EVs

CEA (the French Atomic and Renewable Energy Commission) and Renault Group are working on future generations of vehicle-to-grid (V2G), the bidirectional exchange technology that enables electric vehicles to restore part of the electricity stored in their batteries to optimize the operation of the grid and compensate for the intermittent nature of renewable energies.

To this end, the CEA and Renault Group have jointly developed a new electronic power converter architecture directly integrated into the charger of electric vehicles. The result of nearly three years of research and the subject of 11 joint patents, this power converter, developed from innovative materials and more compact, should reduce energy losses by 30%, improve the vehicle’s recharging time and guarantee the battery’s durability. Also, it will be bidirectional by storing energy from the electricity network.

The CEA and Renault Group R&D teams have combined their expertise in on-board power electronics, in particular in wide-bandgap semiconductor materials, whether gallium nitride (GaN) or silicon carbide (SiC).

As a result, the new architecture based on the wide-bandgap semiconductor materials makes it possible to reduce energy losses by 30% during conversion, and to reduce heating by the same amount, making it easier to cool the conversion system.

In addition, the engineers’ work to optimize the active (semiconductors) and passive (capacitors and wound inductive components) components has enabled a reduction in the volume and cost of the charger. Due to the use of ferrite materials, dedicated to high frequency, and a shaping injection process (power injection molding), the converter has become more compact.

This new converter architecture offers a charging capacity of up to 22kW in three-phase mode, allowing for faster charging of the vehicle while ensuring the durability of the battery. It also allows the charger to be bidirectional, so that the energy stored in the battery can be fed back into the grid or used to supply the energy needs of an autonomous house, provided that the house is equipped with a bidirectional meter. The solution is compatible with the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) standards of the networks and the car.

“This project with the CEA has exceeded our expectations by confirming the ability to achieve the expected performance in terms of efficiency and compactness,” says Jean-François Salessy, VP advanced engineering, Renault Group. “It opens up strong prospects for power electronics, which is a real challenge in the electric vehicle, in order to make the best use of the batteries’ capacities. With bidirectional charging, the vehicle serves the electrical network and enables the end consumer to reduce energy costs,” he adds.

“We were able to bring together Renault Group’s system vision for the electrification of the vehicle and the drive train, and the skills of our teams in converter architectures and components; in the end, we implemented an architecture adapted to the needs and with high added value,” says CEA-Leti’s CEO Sébastien Dauvé.

“The use of innovative materials with joint Renault Group-CEA patents on the charger made it possible to manufacture the dedicated transformer, which is a key component in this type of development, as it allows for a reduction in volume with performance that goes beyond the state of the art,” says CEA-Liten’s CEO François Legalland.

Original – Semiconductor Today

Renesas’ New Automotive Intelligent Power Device Enables Safe and Flexible Power Distribution in Next-Generation E/E Architectures

Renesas Electronics Corporation, a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, announced a new automotive Intelligent Power Device (IPD) that will safely and flexibly control power distribution within vehicles, addressing the requirements of next-generation E/E (electrical/electronic) architectures. The new RAJ2810024H12HPD is available in the small TO-252-7 package and reduces the mounting area by about 40% compared to the conventional TO-263 package product. In addition, the advanced current detection function of the new device allows highly accurate detection of abnormal currents such as overcurrent. Since the new IPD detects abnormal currents even at low loads, it allows engineers to design highly safe and precise power control systems that can detect even the smallest abnormalities.

“We are very pleased to launch a new generation of automotive IPDs featuring our new power MOSFET process,” said Akira Omichi, Vice President of Renesas’ Automotive Analog Application Specific Business Division. “Renesas will continue to develop IPDs that improve the safety and reliability of power supply systems and facilitate system development for our customers by offering system-level solutions with our microcontrollers.”

The new IPD was developed to address the growing requirements as E/E architectures continue to evolve. In a conventional distributed E/E architecture, power supply from the battery is distributed to each Electronic Control Unit (ECU) via long, thick wires from a power box consisting of mechanical relays and fuses. IPDs have a longer life and are maintenance-free compared to mechanical relays, so they can be placed anywhere in the vehicle.

As the automotive industry moves toward centralized or zone-oriented E/E architectures, IPDs are becoming an ideal choice for building efficient and flexible power supply networks since they use shorter, thinner wires. Renesas’ IPD in particular provides a more efficient, safer and smaller solution for power distribution control.

Key Features of the New IPD (RAJ2810024H12HPD):

Single-channel high-side IPD
Small TO-252-7 package (6.10 x 6.50 mm: excluding pins)
Low on-resistance (Ron) of 2.3mΩ at 25°C (typ.)
Highly accurate current detection at low loads
Built-in charge pump
Self-diagnostic feedback by load current sense
Protection functions such as load short-circuit, overheat detection, sense current output, and GND open protection
Supports 3.3V/5V logic interface
Low standby current
Battery reverse connection protection with self-turn-on
Compliant with AEC-Q100 and RoHS automotive standards

Original – Renesas Electronics

ROHM’s 4th Generation SiC MOSFETs to be Used in Hitachi Astemo’s Inverters for Electric Vehicles

ROHM has recently announced the adoption of its new 4th Generation SiC MOSFETs and gate driver ICs in electric vehicle inverters from Hitachi Astemo, Ltd. a leading Japanese automotive parts manufacturer.

As the electrification of cars rapidly advances towards achieving a decarbonized society, the development of electric powertrain systems that are more efficient, compact, and lightweight is currently underway.

Especially for EVs, the inverter, which plays a central role in the drive system, needs to be made more efficient to extend the cruising range and reduce the size of the onboard battery, increasing the expectations for SiC power devices.

As the first supplier in the world to begin mass production of SiC MOSFETs in 2010, ROHM continues to develop market-leading SiC power device technologies. Among these are ROHM’s latest 4th Generation SiC MOSFETs that deliver improved short-circuit withstand time along with the industry’s lowest ON-resistance, making it possible to extend the cruising range of electric vehicles by reducing power consumption 6% vs IGBTs (as calculated by the international standard WLTC fuel efficiency test) when installed in the main inverter.

At the same time, Hitachi Astemo, which has been developing advanced technologies for vehicle motors and inverters for a number of years, already enjoys a considerable track record in the increasingly popular EV market. However, this marks the first time SiC devices will be adopted for the main inverter circuit to further improve performance. The inverters are slated to be supplied to automakers from 2025, starting in Japan then expanding overseas.

Going forward, as a leading supplier of SiC power devices, ROHM will continue to strengthen its lineup and provide power solutions that contribute to technical innovation in vehicles by combining peripheral device technologies such as control ICs designed to maximize performance.

Original – ROHM

Aehr Receives $25.1 Million Order for FOX-XP™ Test and Burn-in Systems to Support Production of Silicon Carbide Power Devices for Electric Vehicles

Aehr Test Systems, a worldwide supplier of semiconductor test and reliability qualification equipment, announced it has received a $25.1 million follow-on order from its lead silicon carbide test and burn-in customer for a significant number of FOX-XPTM wafer level test and burn-in systems to meet their increased capacity needs for production of silicon carbide devices for electric vehicles.

This customer is a leading Fortune 500 supplier of semiconductor devices with a significant customer base in the automotive semiconductor market. The FOX-XP systems are configured to test 18 silicon carbide wafers in parallel while contacting and testing 100% of the devices on each wafer. The FOX systems are expected to ship from Aehr’s fiscal fourth quarter that begins March 1, 2023, through its fiscal second quarter 2024 ending November 30, 2023.

As with previous orders, this customer plans to purchase later the corresponding initial sets of 18 WaferPakTM full wafer Contactors that are needed for each system to contact 100% of the devices on each wafer. These WaferPaks are expected to ship at approximately the same time as the systems.

Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, commented, “We are very excited to receive this substantial follow-on order from our lead silicon carbide customer, who is ramping capacity to meet the enormous growth of silicon carbide devices used in electric vehicles, electric vehicle chargers, and other industrial and renewable energy infrastructure markets. This single order for our FOX-XP 18-wafer systems represents a significant ramp-up in test capacity for this customer, increasing their capacity for wafer-level burn-in by over 50%.

“Silicon carbide MOSFETs have greater efficiency and switching speeds than alternative silicon-based devices, providing greater range and faster charging speeds in electric vehicles. Silicon carbide device demand for electric vehicles is growing significantly. Major semiconductor players such as Infineon, onsemi, STMicroelectronics and Wolfspeed have each announced plans for significant investments in facilities and capital expenditures to add capacity to meet this demand. Additionally, several companies in Europe, Asia, and the Americas plan to supply silicon carbide power semiconductors to meet the electric vehicle and related charging network market, as well as additional markets that are expected to grow substantially over the next decade or more.

“Forecasts from William Blair estimate that the silicon carbide market for devices in electric vehicles alone, such as traction inverters and on-board chargers, is expected to grow from 119,000 6-inch equivalent silicon carbide wafers for electric vehicles in 2021 to more than 4.1 million 6-inch equivalent wafers in 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate of 48.4%. This equates to almost 35 times larger in 2030 than in 2021. In addition, 6-inch equivalent silicon carbide wafers for other markets such as solar, industrial, and other electrification infrastructure are expected to grow to another 3 million wafers by 2030.

“Aehr’s FOX-XP systems enable our customers to drive the critical electrical stress voltages, currents, and temperatures needed to weed out early life failures which are necessary to meet the mission critical initial quality and long-term reliability of electric vehicle power inverters in electric engines as well on-board chargers and off-board charging stations used for electric vehicle charging. They also enable customers to very cost-effectively do the extended testing time needed to stabilize and remove the drift seen in the threshold or turn on voltage of silicon carbide MOSFETs. This is particularly important for devices placed in parallel in the inverters, where even a small variation between threshold voltages in the parallel circuit of the inverter can create long-term reliability issues.

“Aehr’s proprietary and patented WaferPaks have the ability to contact and test 100% of the devices in parallel, and up to several thousand devices at once on each wafer. Along with the FOX-XP test electronics blade, they can provide electrical feedback of key parametric measurements of voltages and currents on every device while also identifying and tracking individual device failures throughout the test process at elevated temperatures up to 150C.”

The FOX-XP system, available with multiple WaferPakContactors (full wafer test) or multiple DiePakTM Carriers (singulated die/module test) configurations, is capable of functional test and burn-in/cycling of integrated devices such as silicon carbide power devices, silicon photonics as well as other optical devices, 2D and 3D sensors, flash memories, Gallium Nitride (GaN), magnetic sensors, microcontrollers, and other leading-edge ICs in either wafer form factor, before they are assembled into single or multi-die stacked packages, or in singulated die or module form factor.

Original – Aehr Test Systems

ROHM Appoints Aly Mashaly as New Director Application and Technical Solution Center in Europe

As of January 1st, Aly Mashaly has succeeded Günter Richard as Director of ROHM’s European Application and Technical Solution Center (ATSC). Günter Richard has retired after 32 years working for ROHM.

Before having joined ROHM in 2015, Aly Mashaly has gained more than 20 years of experience in the electronics industry. He is an expert in power electronics, especially in the field of automotive applications. Also, he has worked as a development engineer and project manager in the fields of e-mobility and aerospace applications for several years.

Mashaly is also a regular speaker at various conferences, including PCIM, ECPE, EPE and CS International. He holds degrees from the Ain Shams University Cairo and Leibniz University Hanover where he has studied electrical engineering.

For his new role at ROHM, he has set himself ambitious goals: “With our highly skilled team, technical services and high quality products we strive for excellence to be a competent partner to our customers. On top, we want to be a supplier and partner for innovative solutions to help our society to overcome some pressing challenges of our time,” states Mashaly. “I would also like to express my gratitude to my predecessor Günter Richard who has established the Application and Technical Solution Center back in 2019 and who has made the transition very easy to me,” adds Mashaly.

Aly Mashaly is now directly reporting to Wolfram Harnack, President of ROHM Semiconductor Europe: “Based on his huge amount of proven technical experience as well as his demonstrated leadership skills and commitment towards ROHM, I’m convinced that Mr. Mashaly will bring the ATSC and the technical customer service involved to the next level,” concludes Wolfram Harnack.

Original – ROHM

Toshiba Releases Intelligent Power Devices That Help Reduce Mounting Areas

Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation (“Toshiba”) has launched two intelligent power devices that control the drive of the inductive loads of motors, solenoids, lamps and other devices used in applications such as the programmable logic controllers of industrial equipment.

The new products use Toshiba’s analog device consolidation process (BiCD) to achieve an on-resistance of 0.4Ω (typ.) in the output stage, over 50% lower than that of Toshiba’s current products. Both TPD2015FN and TPD2017FN are housed in an SSOP30 package, which has a mounting area about 71% that of the SSOP24 package used for the current products, a height of 80% that of SSOP24 package, and a narrower, 0.65mm pin pitch. These improvements will help to reduce equipment size.

The maximum operating temperature of the new products is 110°C, higher than the 85°C of the current products, suiting them for operation in higher temperatures. In addition, both have built-in over current protection circuits and over temperature protection circuits, which help to improve equipment reliability.

Applications:

Programmable logic controllers for industrial use
Numerically controlled machine tools
Inverters/Servos
Control equipment with IO-Link

Features:

Monolithic power ICs with built-in N-channel MOSFETs (8-channels) and control circuits (high-side switch TPD2015FN has built-in charge pumps.)
Housed in a small SSOP30 package, with a mounting area about 71% that of the SSOP24 package
Built-in protection functions (over temperature, over current)
High operating temperature: Topr (max) =110°C
Low On-resistance: RDS(ON) =0.4Ω (typ.) @VIN=5V, Tj=25°C, IOUT=0.5A

Original – Toshiba

STMicroelectronics Reveals Scalable, Feature-Rich Automotive High-Side Drivers Leveraging Advanced Power Technology

STMicroelectronics has released single-, double-, and four-channel automotive High Side Drivers in a common PowerSSO-16 package style, with pin assignments that simplify scaling circuit designs to add more driver channels.

The High Side Drivers target applications throughout the vehicle, including safety, comfort, and powertrain, body electronics, infotainment, and driver assistance systems. Meeting the automotive industry’s LV124 test schedule for deep cold cranking permits use with heavy loads such as engine starters and ensures reliable operation even in extreme winter conditions. With very low standby current, at just a few microamps, these drivers minimize the drain on the battery when the vehicle is turned off and not being used.

The drivers are manufactured using ST’s proprietary VIPower M0-9 technology, which permits extensive integration within a small die size in addition to high current capability and high efficiency. On-chip features include protection such as load-current limiting, load-dump protection up to 35V, and limiting of fast thermal transients. Flexible reset management lets the designer configure the driver’s responses to faults and so best meet the needs of the application. The drivers provide reverse-battery protection through self-turn-on capability, which limits the power dissipation on the PCB to a survivable level.

In addition, diagnostic capabilities include high-accuracy proportional load-current sensing that permits detecting malfunctions in the load, such as disconnection of an LED string. There is also overload, short-to-ground, short-to-VCC, and off-state open-load detection. All diagnostics are maintained whether the driver is turned on or off, permitting faults to be detected even when the load is not supplied.

The series comprises five single-channel drivers, VN9004AJ, VN9006AJ, VN9008AJ, VN9012AJ, VN9016AJ. The dual-channel drivers are the VND9008AJ, VND9012AJ, VND9016AJ, and VND9025AJ. The VNQ9025AJ and VNQ9080AJ each have four channels. All are housed in the PowerSSO-16 package, which has a space-saving 6.00mm x 4.9mm footprint and is only 1.7mm high and are pin-to-pin compatible. They are also compatible with the previous-generation M0-7 family.

Original – STMicroelectronics

New N-channel Power MOSFETs Leverage Advanced Heat Dissipation Capabilities to Support Larger Automotive Currents

Toshiba Electronics Europe GmbH (“Toshiba”) has launched two new automotive-grade 40V N-channel power MOSFETs that will have real impact on next-generation vehicle designs. The XPQR3004PB and XPQ1R004PB utilize the game-changing large transistor outline gull-wing leads package format – referred to as L-TOGLTM.

Even before going into volume production, the XPQR3004PB has succeeded in winning the Power Semiconductor/Driver of 2022 category at the recent World Electronics Achievement Awards (WEAA) organized by AspenCore.

Thanks to their L-TOGL packages, and the enhanced heat dissipation characteristics derived, the newly released Toshiba MOSFETs are highly optimized for handling large currents. They each feature high drain current ratings (400A for the XPQR3004PB and 200A for the XPQ1R004PB), plus industry-leading on-resistance values (XPQR3004PBXPQ1R004PB).

There is no internal post structure (solder connection) on these devices. This is achieved by connecting the source and outer leads with an innovative copper clip. The use of a multi-pin structure for the source leads reduces the package resistance (and associated losses) by about 70% when compared with the existing TO-220SM(W) package.

The resulting drain current (ID) rating of the XPQR3004PB, represents a 60% increase over the existing TKR74F04PB, housed in the TO-220SM(W) package. Furthermore, the thick copper frame reduces junction-to-case thermal impedance substantially. It is 0.2°C/W for the XPQR3004PB and 0.65°C/W for the XPQ1R004PB. This eases heat dissipation, lowers operating temperatures and enhances reliability.

Intended for use in demanding automotive applications at temperatures up to 175°C, the XPQR3004PB and XPQ1R004PB are both AEC-Q101 qualified. Their gull-wing leads reduce mounting stress and allow easy visual inspection – thereby helping to improve the solder joint reliability.

When used in high-current automotive applications, such as semiconductor relays or integrated starter generators (ISGs), the XPQR3004PB and XPQ1R004PB enable designs to be simplified and the number of MOSFETs required to be fewer. This means that size, weight and cost reductions can all be realized.

Original – Toshiba

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