YESvGaN

Silicon has been the workhorse of power transistor technology, and it remains a cost-effective leader for many applications across all voltage ranges. However, its inherent material properties are becoming a barrier to today’s requirements for increased power densities and higher efficiencies, particularly in the fast-growing areas of electric vehicles, renewable energy and data centers. Wide band gap (WBG) semiconductor materials can overcome these limitations. The EU-funded YESvGaN project aims to aims to develop a new class of vertical GaN membrane power transistors, which will be both affordable and highly efficient. This is achieved by using vertical GaN drift epitaxy on foreign low-cost substrates such as silicon or sapphire, serving as a platform for various high performance transistor architectures. A vertical membrane transistor will be created by developing new process technology to directly access the backside of the active GaN layers. The membrane transistor’s efficiency will be ensured by developing advanced assembly and interconnection technology, resulting in reliable heat dissipation and stable device performance. Finally, the transistors will be applied to actual converter circuits in order to demonstrate their performance.

Duration: 1 May 2021 - 30 April 2024