Fairchild – ON Semi deal is not done yet!

ON Semi’s offer of 20$ per share, representing a total of 2.4B$ as been beaten by a better offer.

The new bidder offered 21,70$ per share. The origin of the offer is still anonymous, and is being examined by Fairchild’s board. Several sources relate that the new offer comes from a group led by China Resources Holding.

Among the issues posed by selling Fairchild to a Chinese company, is the fact that the offer needs to be reviewed and approved by the CFIUS (Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.), an agency that has scuttled transactions involving Chinese SOEs. Phoenix based ON Semiconductor’s offer had the advantage to keep the US flag floating over Fairchild’s headquarter.

China’s willing to acquire Power semiconductor technology is not new. The country has been actively working on developing it’s own technologies. Even if they master now the manufacturing of IGBTs. They are still late as the technology used is quite old and not as advanced as the one you could find at power semiconductor dinosaurs like Infineon, Mitsubishi, and Fairchild. The development of T&D and Smartgrid needs as well as electric mobility put China in need of sourcing such technology.

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Fujitsu puts GaN in high efficiency 12-W AC adapter

Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. today announced the development of the world’s smallest, most efficient AC adapter, which uses gallium nitride (GaN) high electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) power devices for super-fast charging of smartphones and other mobile electronics.

 

Note: This news is totally in line with what Point The Power announced in its insight article in June. A market report is currently under edition:  more info here.

As mobile devices using AC adapters to recharge such as smartphones, tablets, and other electronics powered by rechargeable batteries have become more and more prevalent, charger efficiency has become an issue in reducing the total amount of power consumed and reducing society’s environmental footprint. As mobile devices are built with increasing battery capacity, charging those batteries quickly becomes an issue, creating a demand for compact, high-output AC adapters.

Fujitsu Laboratories has now used low dynamic resistance GaN-HEMT as the switching element, which is heavily by low-loss, to develop the world’s smallest and most efficient AC adapter. New circuitry that precisely controls switching timing reduces current loss, allowing for the world’s smallest 12-W AC adapter (15.6-cc) and the world’s most efficient power supply at 87%. Using GaN-HEMPT has made it possible to have small, high-speed switching as well as achieve low-resistance and improved energy efficiency. With this technology, AC adapters charging mobile electronics will consume half the power and will be able to charge in one-third of the time. Widespread use of this AC adapter will help reduce CO2 emissions and reduce burden on the environment.

The prototype AC adapter will be exhibited at Eco-Products 2015, from December 10 at Tokyo Big Sight.

Background

The has been an rapid increase in prevalence of cellphones, smartphones, tablets, and other mobile electronics powered by rechargeable batteries and there are pressing needs for high-capacity battery-equipped mobile electronics with long run times, and to charge such devices quickly, making smaller and higher-output AC adapters even more desirable. In addressing their environmental impact, reducing power consumption has become an issue. In February 2016, the U.S. Department of Energy will be putting into effect revised “Level-VI” efficiency standards for external power supplies, calling for power supplies operating at 6-V or less to increase their efficiency by as much as 5.46%. Meeting this higher efficiency level has been a significant undertaking.

Issues

AC adapters today use a switching-based approach with field-effect transistors (FET) as the switching elements, which repeatedly turn on and off to convert and thereby control the voltage.

The most effective means of improving the size, efficiency, and output of AC adapters is to use switching that increases the frequency of the on/off cycling action. GaN-HEMT, which can run at megahertz rates with a low threshold voltage to determine on/off switching, is considered the ideal technology for that switching element for its extremely high performance. It can be run at ten times the frequency of the Si-MOSFET silicon semiconductor devices that are currently widely used switching elements, and with one-tenth the dynamic resistance. But today’s control ICs, which control the operation of the switching elements and stabilize voltage, are slower even than current switching actions, and would make it impossible to fully take advantage of GaN-HEMT performance. Furthermore, timing delays in the switching can cause the current to flow backwards through the circuit, creating considerable loss.

About the Technology

Fujitsu Laboratories has made it possible to use low dynamic resistance GaN-HEMT as the switching element by careful design of the surrounding circuitry. This allows it to convert current from a wall socket with 87% efficiency, and can charge a battery in one-third the time of current comparably sized AC adapters, a world’s first. Compared to other AC adapters with similar output, it is roughly half the volume, making it the world’s smallest.

To convert the alternating current from wall sockets (which is at 100-V in Japan) to the direct current used by the connected device, switching method AC adapters consist of a switch that turns the current on and off at a fixed frequency to deliver stable direct current, and a transformer to convert the voltage. The circuit block from the input power to the transformer is referred to as the primary side (AC-DC converter), while the block from the transformer to the output power is referred to as the secondary side (rectifier); to build low-loss circuits, control ICs are used to adjust the time that it takes for the current to flow and to control the switching elements in both circuits, and these ICs need to be connected and operate together (Figure 2). Because of the strong current on the secondary side of the AC adapter, low resistance is especially important there.

Fujitsu-GaNcharger-Fig2

Figure 2: AC adapter block diagram

Using GaN-HEMT as a switching element enables faster operation, but this can actually increase loss, especially on the secondary-side, depending on the control-signal waveform output by the control IC. In order to match the timing of current flowing through the secondary-side switching element with the on/off action of the primary-side’s switching element, and to ensure that current is always cycled on/off with timings appropriate to GaN-HEMT, the control-signal waveform output by the control IC needs to be adjusted to have sharp peaks (Figure 3).

The fundamental operations of the secondary-side’s control IC give rise to voltage that matches the switching element’s voltage and creates voltage that controls on/off action for the switching element. However, as a result of the high-speed operations, the operation of the off switching becomes relatively slow. As the voltage of the switching element increases, electrical currents running in the opposite direction momentarily occur which causes loss.

Figure 3: Changes in voltage and current in circuitry surrounding secondary-side switching element (conventional technology)

Figure 3: Changes in voltage and current in circuitry surrounding secondary-side switching element (conventional technology)

 

Using GaN-HEMT as a switching element enables faster operation, but this can actually increase loss, especially on the secondary-side, depending on the control-signal waveform output by the control IC. In order to match the timing of current flowing through the secondary-side switching element with the on/off action of the primary-side’s switching element, and to ensure that current is always cycled on/off with timings appropriate to GaN-HEMT, the control-signal waveform output by the control IC needs to be adjusted to have sharp peaks (Figure 3).

The fundamental operations of the secondary-side’s control IC give rise to voltage that matches the switching element’s voltage and creates voltage that controls on/off action for the switching element. However, as a result of the high-speed operations, the operation of the off switching becomes relatively slow. As the voltage of the switching element increases, electrical currents running in the opposite direction momentarily occur which causes loss.

Figure 3: Changes in voltage and current in circuitry surrounding secondary-side switching element (conventional technology)

Figure 3: Changes in voltage and current in circuitry surrounding secondary-side switching element (conventional technology)

 

In this new technology, Fujitsu used a new circuit that controls the timing between the secondary-side control IC and GaN-HEMT. By adjusting the voltage waveform produced by the control IC, the current losses that would normally accompany high-speed operation are suppressed, and current is output with the right timing while taking advantage of GaN-HEMT’s low dynamic resistance. This increases the AC adapter’s efficiency so that it can be made smaller with higher output (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Changes in voltage and current in circuitry surrounding secondary-side switching element (new technology)

Figure 4: Changes in voltage and current in circuitry surrounding secondary-side switching element (new technology)

Results

As an implementation of this technology, Fujitsu Laboratories built an AC adapter that is compact and fast-charging. In maximizing GaN-HEMT’s properties, wasted power is reduced, enabling it to comply with the Level VI power-efficiency standards for external power supplies that the U.S. Department of Energy will put into effect in February 2016 (Figure 5). Widespread use of this AC adapter would contribute to CO2 reductions.

Figure 5: Power output and efficiency of the new AC adapter

Figure 5: Power output and efficiency of the new AC adapter

Future Plans

Fujitsu Laboratories is continuing to refine this technology, to reduce its size and increase its efficiency, and aims for a practical implementation during fiscal 2017. The company is also looking at higher-output circuits that could extend this technology’s application to notebook PCs.

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Toyota Prius uses double-side cooled power module packaging

According to Nikkei Tech-on! Toyota has reduced by 30% the cost of its power converter by reducing  the size and number of the components.

This has been achieved by using two pairs of diode-IGBT in a module and cooling the module on both sides. This kind of power module packaging is not completely new. It has been already tested on Lexus LS600h hybrid since 2007. Lexus is part of Toyota group and manufactures high-end vehicles. Toyota, as a pioneer in hybrid electric vehicle, did try different types of power modules and cooling solutions on the different vehicles they released. Double sided was thought to be too expensive at the time. Scaling and integration into a sedan like Prius was not expected to happen so fast.

LS600h Lexus power module example

LS600h Lexus power module example

Toyota preferred to use custom designed power modules with standard cooling system in the power electronics converter of its hybrid cars when the first versions of Prius where released in 2006 and 2010.

It’s a new kind of power module that is now used in mass-production of hybrid cars, and its a new step in power module packaging innovation.

We need to note that this is in total opposite direction to the one chosen by Tesla Motors as pointed out in Point The Power insight article. Tesla preferred to use a proven power devices packaging technology for its Model S. They went for TO-247 which are an improvement from TO-220. The design of these packages date from the 1990’s. This choice seems to be made following cooling, reliability and control needs in the inverter. Indeed, Tesla’s inverter is driving much more current (up to 1500A) than the power inverter of an hybrid car like Toyota Prius.

 

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GaN Systems multiply by 10 its production capacity

GaN Systems, the manufacturer of gallium nitride power transistors, announces that its foundry, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TMSC), has expanded the volume production of products based on GaN System’s Island Technology® by 10X in response to demand from consumer and enterprise customers.

GaN Systems has the industry’s broadest and most comprehensive portfolio of GaN power transistors with both 100V and 650V GaN FETs shipping in volume.

The unique combination of TSMC’s gallium nitride process and GaN Systems’ proprietary Island Technology design is further enhanced by GaNPX™ packaging, which delivers high current handling, extremely low inductance and exceptional thermal performance. GaN Systems’ power switching transistors continue to lead the gallium nitride market, providing best-in-class 100V and 650V devices and driving product innovation ranging from thinner TVs to extended range electric vehicles. Sajiv Dalal, VP Business Management at TSMC, comments,

“We are delighted to confirm that our collaboration with GaN Systems has brought the promise of gallium nitride from concept through reliability testing and on to volume production.” Adds Girvan Patterson, GaN Systems’ President,

“GaN has emerged as the power semiconductor solution of choice. Smart mobile devices, slim TVs, games consoles, automotive systems and other mass volume items have been designed with GaN transistors as the enabling power technology, so it is imperative that devices are available in correspondingly large quantities. That is why, after three years of working together, we are so excited to formally announce our collaboration with TSMC.”

Using Island Technology with TSMC’s GaN-on-Silicon manufacturing techniques enabled GaN Systems to deliver the most usable, high performance, normally-off transistor to the market in mid-2014. This has allowed global power system manufacturers in the energy storage, enterprise and consumer markets to design, develop, test and bring to market more powerful, lighter and far smaller new products in their quest to attain competitive edge. To meet customers’ increasing demand for high GaN volumes in 2016, TSMC’s commitment to volume production flow comes at the perfect time.

Check our GaN Market report to know more about GaN Systems and their potential

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Rohm expands its full SiC power module lineup

Rohm has recently announced the development of a 1200V/300A full SiC power module designed for inverters and converters in solar power conditioners and industrial equipment.

The high 300A rated current makes the BSM300D12P2E001 suitable for high power applications such as large-capacity power supplies for industrial equipment, while 77% lower switching loss vs. conventional IGBT modules enables high-frequency operation, contributing to smaller cooling countermeasures and peripheral components.

In March 2012, ROHM began mass production of the world’s first full SiC power module with an integrated power semiconductor element composed entirely of silicon carbide. In addition, its 120A and 180A/1200V products continue to see increased adoption in the industrial and power sectors. And although further increases in current are possible due to energy-saving effects, in order to maximize the high-speed switching capability of SiC products, an entirely new package design is needed that can minimize the effects of surge voltage during switching, which can become particularly problematic at higher currents.

In response, the BSM300D12P2E001 features an optimized chip layout and module construction that significantly reduces internal inductance, suppressing surge voltage while enabling support for higher current operation up to 300A. And going forward, ROHM will continue to strengthen its lineup by developing products compatible with larger currents by incorporating SiC devices utilizing high voltage modules and trench configurations.

Key Features
1. Reduced switching loss through higher frequency operation
Replacing IGBT modules is expected to reduce switching loss by up to 77%, enabling smaller cooling systems to be used. And higher frequency switching will make it possible to decrease the size of peripheral components such as the coil and capacitors, improving efficiency while contributing to greater end-product miniaturization

2. Lower inductance improves current-handling capability
Increasing the rated current for power modules involves reducing the internal inductance to counter the higher surge voltages generated during switching. The BSM300D12P2E001 features an all-SiC construction and optimized circuit layout that cuts internal inductance by half, making it possible to increase the rated current to 300A.

Device Characteristics

  • Full SiC module integrates an SiC SBD and SiC-MOSFET into a single package
  • Equivalent package size as standard IGBT modules
  • Built-in thermistor
  • Tjmax=175 degrees C
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GE introducing its Silicon Carbide plans

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ON semi acquires Fairchild for $2.4B

ON Semiconductor Corp. agreed to acquire Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc. for $2.4 billion, the latest in a spate of more than $90 billion of M&A or other deals in the global semiconductor industry in the last 12 months as the market is consolidating to face rising production costs.

ON Semi will pay $20 a share in cash for Fairchild, a 12% premium to the stock’s close in New York on Tuesday. The price is 41% above Fairchild’s closing level Oct. 13, the day before reports that the company was seeking a buyer. Fairchild, based in San Jose, California, is a leader in the power semiconductor industry. They were at the origin of most power devices we see today but also gave birth to many semiconductor companies. Intel, AMD, National semiconductor among others are actually spin-offs from Fairchild.

You can check our article on the history of Fairchild and how fairchildren made the semiconductor industry back in the 60’s and 70’s.

ON Semi took over Fairchild as it was one of the two challengers in position. Rumors had that Infineon was running for this acquisition too. But the recent huge cheque paid to acquire International Rectifier and the difficulty to deal with so many management changes in such a short period of time has probably slowed down Infineon’s decision. STMicroelectronics could also has studied the option to buy ON Semi. But they explained during an analyst in October, that they had no plans of acquisition. Their financial position calls other decisions than M&A.

fairchildren
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VisIC GaN power evaluation boards are available

VisIC Technologies, a technology-leading developer of Gallium Nitride power semiconductors, previously announced the world’s lowest resistance 650V blocking voltage ALL-Switch product family specifying an Rdson as low as 15 mOhm.

VisIC Technologies has now delivered ALL-Switch Evaluation Boards (EB) and samples to leading customers. The EB allows customers to perform extensive testing confirming ALL-Switch’s leadership switching parameters.

The EB includes gate driver and switching control logic based upon commercially available components. ALL-Switch is configured for hard switching on the EB and can switch a 400V load with greater than 30A currents at over 500kHz. (See the attached oscilloscope trace.)

Meeting the highly demanding requirements of power switching with GaN has been the Holy Grail for power conversion research in the last decade. ALL-Switch is a product realization of that research.

VisIC’s technology solves problems that have limited devices from simultaneously achieving step function reductions in conduction and switching losses for power conversion systems that can benefit from high switching speeds.  VisIC’s products easily exceed the performance of competitive products using Silicon, Silicon Carbide or GaN.

VisIC will soon announce soon the details of a Half Bridge reference design.

 

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X-Fab expanding its capacity

X-FAB Silicon Foundries has announced it will expand the capacity and capabilities of its Kuching-based foundry operation, X-FAB Sarawak Sdn. Bhd., to meet accelerating demand for its core technologies – the 0.18µm and 0.35µm process platforms. With revenue having grown 25 percent for each of the past two years, and similar growth expected for the next two years, X-FAB plans to invest a total of US-Dollar 114 million between 2015 and 2017. This includes capex spending amounting to US-Dollar 29 million in the current year.

X-FAB Group with its clear focus on automotive, industrial and medical applications has transitioned X-FAB Sarawak from a manufacturing facility for commodity-type products into a high-value-add business for products with a long life cycle. Since it became part of the X-FAB Group in 2006, the site in Kuching has undergone a complete change in most of its technology portfolio, its application focus, its customer base, product life cycles and quality systems.

YB. Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry said, ”We are very excited that X-FAB Sarawak, one of the two pure-play semiconductor wafer foundries in Malaysia, continues to be at the forefront of our local semiconductor manufacturing industry.  The decision made by X-FAB to expand its operation in Malaysia is testament to the country’s strong economic fundamentals and the capabilities of our local talent.”

“X-FAB’s operation in Sarawak has been driving the growth of local economy. They are employing more than 1,000 staff where more than 80 percent of them are considered to be high income earners. We believe that this expansion will act as a catalyst in attracting other high technology firms to establish their operations in Malaysia as they will be able to leverage on the wafer fabrication services provided by X-FAB,” he added.

“The State of Sarawak as a major shareholder is very satisfied with the recent development of both the X-FAB Group and, more specifically, the profitable growth of X-FAB Sarawak, said Dato’ Seri Tarmizi Hj. Sulaiman, Chairman of the Board of X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE. “We are pleased that X-FAB Sarawak developed from a small nucleus into a competitive industrial enterprise with the competence and help of X-FAB.”

Rudi De Winter, CEO of X-FAB Group said, “We are looking back at nine years of successful conversion and expansion of our Sarawak foundry operation. During this period, we changed the digital business into a more future-oriented business with our complex analog/mixed-signal technologies. These technologies primarily used for automotive, industrial and medical applications enabled us to build a stable and sustainable customer base. In 2016, we expect X-FAB Sarawak for the first time to represent more than 50 percent of X-FAB Group’s total revenue.”

Mike Young, CEO of X-FAB Sarawak, added, “I am very impressed by the site’s evolution over the past several years and the success we accomplished thanks to the dedication and commitment of all our employees here at X-FAB Sarawak. Our continuous efforts to excel have paid off, as confirmed by the two awards we received in 2015 for our outstanding HR achievements, namely “The Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Human Resources” and “The 1Malaysia Employer Award for Big Companies.”

 

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CRRC now making 6.5kV IGBT in China

CRRC Yongji Xinshisu Electric Equipment Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of CRRC Corp. Ltd., has developed China’s own insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) module of extra-high voltage level, which is of great significance for China to localize the high-speed rail and high-power locomotive technologies.

CRRC is the company born from merger of CNR (China Northern Railway) and CSR (China Southern Railway) which were among the biggest rolling stock manufacturers in the world.
The extra-high voltage 6500V/200A IGBT module has filled the blank of China in indigenous extra-high voltage IGBT module development and is to change the country’s dependency on IGBT imports, said Zou Shichang, academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences and chief technology officer of CRRC Corp.

China is the world’s largest IGBT consumer with an eight-billion-yuan market for IGBT consumption. However, the country hasn’t formed its own, complete, strong IGBT industrial system and the extra-high voltage IGBT chips have been monopolized by overseas enterprises.

Zou said the next move of CRRC is to promote the commercial application of 6500V/200A IGBT modules and further improvement in design, manufacturing, packaging, testing, and application of extra-high voltage IGBT chips, replace overseas IGBT modules with our own products, and to enhance the competitiveness of Chinese manufacturing industry in ‘going abroad’.

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First 1500V Super Junction MOSFET available at ST Micro

A new family of Power MOSFETs from STMicroelectronics allows designers of power supplies to maximize the power efficiency of their products while enhancing robustness and safety margins. The MDmeshTM K5 devices are the first in the world to combine the benefits of super-junction technology with a drain-to-source breakdown voltage of 1500V; they have already captured important design wins with major customers in Asia, Europe, and the USA.

The new devices address the growing demand for higher output power for auxiliary switched-mode power supplies in servers, where power-supply robustness is a key factor in minimizing down-time, and in industrial applications such as welding and factory automation. For these applications, where power output ranges from 75W to 230W or above, super-junction MOSFET technology is the preferred choice because of its outstanding dynamic-switching performance.

ST’s MDmesh K5 Power MOSFET family takes this technology to a new level, with the lowest On-Resistance (Rds(on)) per area and the lowest gate charge (Qg) in the market, resulting in the industry’s best FoM (Figure of Merit)1. The devices are ideal for all popular power-supply topologies, including standard, quasi-resonant and active-clamp flyback converters, and LLC2 half bridge converters for applications where high efficiency (up to 96%) and output powers approaching 200W are required for a wide range of input voltages.

The first two members of the new family are the STW12N150K5 and the STW21N150K5, which offer maximum drain-to-source currents of 7A and 14A, respectively, with gate charge as low as 47nC (STW12N150K5) or On-Resistance as low as 0.9Ω (STW21N150K5). Both devices are offered in TO-247 packages in volume quantities at prices of $14 for 1,000 units.

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Google “Little Box challenge”: Step 2

Today, 18 finalist teams for the Little Box Challenge, presented by Google and the IEEE Power Electronics Society, converged at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to have their power inverters tested as part of a $1 million competition to build smaller devices for use in solar power systems.

“We’re very curious to see how the teams are tackling the different challenges that are inherent in trying to make inverter technology smaller and to see the performance of the final prototypes,” NREL Research Electrical Engineer Blake Lundstrom said. “The creativity and enthusiasm the teams bring to the competition is exciting and we hope some of the technical solutions will have long-term applications.”

More than 100 teams submitted technical approach documents and testing applications. On Oct. 21, each of the 18 finalists brought their inverters to the Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) on the NREL campus in Golden, Colorado, to begin testing and evaluation. The day also included each team describing the highlights of its design and lessons learned to a team of researchers and engineers from Google, IEEE, NREL, and others in the power electronics industry.

NREL researchers have collaborated with Google and IEEE to assist in designing the specifications and evaluation methodology for the prototype inverters; each inverter’s efficiency and performance will be evaluated using the same set of typical operating conditions spanning 100 hours. Each inverter must be able to meet most of the same specifications required of inverters already available commercially.

The test results will help Google and IEEE decide the winner of the $1 million prize. To be successful, teams will have designed and built a residential-scale inverter with the highest power density – at least 50 watts per cubic inch. Currently, inverters are about the size of a picnic cooler and Google would like to see the technology shrink to the size of a small laptop computer, or smaller. Shrinking the inverter by 10 times or more and making it cheaper to produce and install would enable more solar-powered homes, more efficient distribution grids, and help bring electricity to remote areas.

The grand prize winner will be announced sometime in early 2016.

ESIF is the newest Energy Department user facility and the only one in the nation focused on integration of clean energy resources into the electric grid at utility scale. At ESIF, NREL offers industry partners access to award-winning, state-of-the art lab space, and a team of specialized scientists and engineers who provide advanced capabilities for research, development, and demonstration of key components of future energy systems.

The work was supported by funding from the Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in support of its SunShot Initiative. The SunShot Initiative is a collaborative national effort that aggressively drives innovation to make solar energy fully cost-competitive with traditional energy sources before the end of the decade. Through SunShot, the department supports efforts by private companies, universities, and national laboratories to drive down the cost of solar electricity to $0.06 per kilowatt-hour. Learn more at energy.gov/sunshot.

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy’s primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for the Energy Department by The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

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