Infineon has announced that it has successfully developed the first 300 mm gallium nitride

     Infineon Technologies AG announced yesterday that it has successfully developed the world's first 300 mm gallium nitride (GaN) power semiconductor wafer technology. Infineon is the world leader in mastering this breakthrough technology in an existing and scalable mass production environment. This breakthrough will greatly boost the GaN power semiconductor market. Compared to 200 mm wafers, 300 mm wafer chip production is not only more technologically advanced, but also due to the expansion of the wafer diameter, the number of chips on each wafer has increased by 2.3 times, and the efficiency has also increased significantly.

     Gan-based power semiconductors are rapidly gaining popularity in industrial, automotive, consumer, computing, and communications applications, including AI system power supplies, solar inverters, chargers and adapters, and motor control systems. Advanced GaN manufacturing processes enable improved device performance and bring many benefits to end-customer applications, including higher efficiency, smaller size, lighter weight and lower total cost. In addition, thanks to scalability, the 300 mm manufacturing process offers extremely high stability in terms of customer supply.

     Jochen Hanebeck, CEO of Infineon Technologies, said: "This significant success is the result of Infineon's innovative strength and the hard work of our global team, and further demonstrates our position in GaN and power systems innovation. This technological breakthrough will drive industry change and enable us to fully unlock the potential of Gans." Nearly a year after the acquisition of GaN Systems, we are once again demonstrating our determination to become a player in the fast-growing GaN market. In the field of power systems, Infineon has access to all three materials: silicon, silicon carbide and gallium nitride."

     Infineon has successfully produced 300 mm GaN wafers at its power semiconductor fab in Villach, Austria, using an integrated pilot production line of existing 300 mm silicon production facilities. Infineon is leveraging its strengths through its existing mature capacity of 300 mm silicon and 200 mm GaN, while further expanding GaN capacity in line with market demand. With the 300 mm GaN process technology, Infineon will drive the growing GaN market. It is estimated that the GaN market will reach billions of dollars by the end of 2030.

     This groundbreaking technical achievement highlights Infineon's position in the world of power systems and iot semiconductors. By deploying 300 mm GaN technology, Infineon is creating more cost-effective products that meet the full range of customer system needs, enhancing existing solutions and enabling new solutions and application areas. In November 2024, Infineon will present the first 300 mm GaN wafers to the public at electronica in Munich.

     Because GaN and silicon manufacturing processes are very similar, a major advantage of 300 mm GaN technology is that existing 300 mm silicon manufacturing equipment can be utilized. Infineon's existing high-volume 300 mm silicon production line is ideally suited to trial production of reliable GaN technology, speeding up the speed of implementation and enabling efficient use of capital. The full scale production of 300 mm GaN will help bring the cost of GaN and silicon close to the same RDS(on) level, which means that the cost of comparable silicon and GaN products will be able to equalize.