Ferdinand-Braun-Institut leads HiPoSwitch project to improve the power performance of energy converters
Over the next three years, the EU project HiPoSwitch, which will be coordinated by the Berlin-based Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, is focusing on novel gallium nitride-based transistors. They are the key switching devices which shall ensure increased efficiency in future power converter systems and shall require less volume and weight along with enhanced performance.
Usually, the efficiency of present systems is largely limited by the active components used. Nowadays, they are mostly based on silicon (Si) which has now advanced to the point that the material itself is basically at its limits. Silicon carbide, on the other hand, is relatively expensive and will prevent more widespread applications.
With its superior material properties, gallium nitride (GaN) promises to be a suitable material for power switching. It is the basis for power switches operating at significantly higher frequencies without suffering from major switching losses. This is due to the lower on-state resistance of GaN power transistors, combined with considerably reduced in- and output capacitances. The increase of switching frequency has also consequences for the passive components as the volume of inductors, current transformers and capacitors can be reduced. The whole assembly becomes smaller and morelight weight. The transistors will be built up on cost-efficient silicon substrates which will make them more attractive from an economic point of view. In the long run, they will combine improved technical properties with comparably low costs.
The joint project has a total budget of 5.6 million Euros and is funded by the European Community with nearly 3.6 million Euros. Eight European project partners provide a portfolio of complementary competencies covering the complete value added chain, from research and development (Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut fuer Hoechstfrequenztechnik (FBH); Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Electrical Engineering; Vienna University of Technology; University of Padua) to industrial application (AIXTRON SE, Artesyn Austria GmbH & Co. KG, EpiGaN, Infineon Technologies Austria AG). After project completion, GaN power transistors and 200 mm GaN-on-silicon substrates will be commercially available and marketed world-wide.
Throughout the project, normally-off GaN power transistors in vertical device architecture will be jointly developed by the German research institute FBH and Infineon Technologies Austria. Processing will be carried out mainly on GaN-on-Si wafers provided by EpiGaN but also benchmarked against GaN-on-SiC epitaxial wafers delivered by FBH. This work package aims at rapidly transferring the process modules from FBH to the high-volume process line at Infineon.
Explorative concepts towards novel normally-off power transistors and devices operating, for example, at high temperatures up to 250°C will also be considered, predominantly at the Technical University Vienna and the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava. Thus, the basis for further technological improvements in the future will already be established during the project. All device developments are continuously supported by intensive reliability testing and failure mode investigations. In this connection, the University of Padua contributes with its experience in GaN device reliability and failure mechanisms.
In parallel to the device developments, the industrial partners will concentrate on transferring the technology developed to a high-volume production environment: The Belgian company EpiGaN is focusing on 200 mm GaN-on-Si epitaxy developments whereas the German corporation AIXTRON sets the prerequisites for high-volume epitaxy by optimizing the respective growth reactors. Infineon Technologies Austria AG evaluates the developed transistor concepts and the GaN-on-Si wafers from EpiGaN in their process line. Artesyn Austria will finally demonstrate the capability of the newly developed technology by building a highly efficient kilowatt class inverter system to be implemented, for example, in new-generation base stations for mobile communications.
Visit Ferdinand-Braun-Institut at www.fbh-berlin.de
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