Thin-film silicon power MOSFET lowers losses
Applied Novel Devices (AND), founded in 2008, has been working on the MOSFET to try and bring advantages associated with gallium nitride to silicon. The technology makes use of thin crystalline films and “exfoliation” to enable higher frequency power conversion than conventionally possible with silicon and lower power, allowing the reduction of module form factors.
The differences and similarities between exfoliation and wafer thinning, as used by Infineon, are not clear.
The company received a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 grant from the US government in 2016 to develop the technology followed up by an SBIR phase 2 grant covering the period 2017 to 2019.
Now SkyWater has manufactured a power MOSFET with half the output charge, near-zero reverse-recovery for AND.
These power MOSFETs offer superior specific on-resistance (< 5 mOhm-mm2 @ 30V BVDSS) at gate drive as low as 2.5V as well as low leakage currents and near-ideal sub-threshold slope. These characteristics can substantially reduce parasitic losses incurred in power management systems. This will improve power management and conversion efficiency in numerous applications including data centers, automotive, electric motor drives, microinverters for renewable energy systems and many others in industrial and consumer markets.
In applications such as DC-DC power conversion, near-zero reverse recovery and low output capacitances eliminate the need for integrated or standalone Schottky clamp diodes. These efficiency enhancing characteristics make the technology attractive for higher frequency voltage conversion applications not typically supported by conventional silicon MOSFETs. The high frequencies enabled by these power MOSFETs, in turn, drive reduction of passive component sizes to achieve small form factor power modules that support further system level efficiency gains.
AND said it will offer wafer scale and standard package products ranging from 15V to 80V for industrial and consumer applications. AND plans to expand the offering to span the 200V to 1000V range with a family of products produced at SkyWater for electric vehicle, renewable energy and various industrial applications. Additionally, through a technology licensing agreement, SkyWater will offer this power MOSFET technology process flow to foundry customers.
“AND has developed a unique technology that brings the benefits of GaN-like performance to mainstream Si MOSFETs,” said Leo Mathew, CEO and co-founder of AND, in a statement. “SkyWater is an ideal partner to bring this industry breakthrough to realization in an IP-secure development and production environment.”
AND is currently sampling the new power MOSFETs and in the process of ramping production at SkyWater. The devices in wafer scale packages will be tailored to specific form factors for existing boards and systems. The products are available from AND and the technology is available immediately as a foundry offering directly from SkyWater.
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