ST and Innoscience sign GaN power device technology development and manufacturing agreement

STMicroelectronics of Geneva, Switzerland and InnoScience (Suzhou) Technology Holding Co Ltd - which manufactures gallium nitride (GaN) power chips on 8” silicon wafers - have signed an agreement on GaN technology development and manufacturing, leveraging the strengths of each company to enhance GaN power solutions and supply chain resilience.

The companies have agreed a joint development initiative on GaN power technology, to advance the promise of GaN power for consumer electronics, data centers, automotive and industrial power systems and many more applications in the coming years. In addition, the agreement allows Innoscience to utilize ST’s front-end manufacturing capacity outside China for its GaN wafers, while ST can leverage Innoscience’s front-end manufacturing capacity in China for its own GaN wafers. The common aim is for each company to expand their individual offering in GaN with supply chain flexibility and resilience to cover all customers’ requirements in a wide range of applications.

“ST and Innoscience are both integrated device manufacturers, and with this agreement we will leverage this model to the benefit of our customers globally,” says Marco Cassis, president, Analog, Power & Discrete, MEMS and Sensors, at STMicroelectronics. “First, ST will be accelerating its roadmap in GaN power technology to complement its silicon and silicon carbide offering. Second, ST will be able to leverage a flexible manufacturing model to serve customers globally,” he adds.

“GaN technology is essential to improve electronics, creating smaller and more efficient systems which save electric power, lower cost, and reduce CO2 emissions,” notes Innoscience’s chairman & founder Dr Weiwei Luo. “Innoscience pioneered mass production of 8-inch GaN technology and has shipped over 1 billion GaN devices into multiple markets,” he adds. “The joint collaboration between ST and Innoscience will further expand and accelerate the adoption of GaN technology. Together the teams at Innoscience and ST will develop the next generations of GaN technology”.

GaN power devices leverage fundamental material properties that enable new standards of system performance in power conversion, motion control and actuation, offering significantly lower losses. This allows for enhanced efficiency, smaller size and lighter weight, reducing the overall solution cost and carbon footprint. The devices are hence rapidly being adopted in consumer electronics, data-center and industrial power supplies, and solar inverters, and are being actively designed into next-generation electric vehicle (EV) powertrains due to their substantial size- and weight-reduction benefits.