Onsemi accelerates silicon carbide innovation to help drive the electrification transition

In the face of an escalating climate crisis and soaring global energy demand, governments and businesses around the world are working together on ambitious climate goals to mitigate environmental impacts and achieve a sustainable future. Key to this is advancing the electrification transition to reduce carbon emissions and actively using renewable energy sources. To accelerate this global transformation, ON (NASDAQ: ON) has launched the EliteSiC M3e MOSFET, its latest generation silicon carbide technology platform, and plans to launch multiple generations of new products by 2030.

Simon Keeton, President of On's Power Solutions Business group, said: "The future of electrification depends on advanced power semiconductors, and power innovation is critical to achieving global electrification and stopping climate change. Without significant innovation in power technology, existing infrastructure will not be able to meet the growing global demand for intelligent and electrified mobility. We are actively promoting technological innovation and plan to significantly increase the power density of silicon carbide technology by 2030 to meet the growing energy demand and contribute to the global electrification transition."

n this process, the EliteSiC M3e MOSFETs will play a key role in enabling the performance and reliability of next-generation electrical systems at a lower kilowatt cost, accelerating widespread electrification and enhancing implementation. With the ability to operate at higher switching frequencies and voltages, the platform effectively reduces power conversion losses, which is critical for a wide range of automotive and industrial applications such as electric vehicle powertrains, DC fast charging piles, solar inverters and energy storage solutions. In addition, the EliteSiC M3e MOSFETs will facilitate the shift to more efficient, higher-power data centers to meet the exponential growth in energy demand from sustainable AI engines.

A trusted platform for a generational leap in efficiency

With On's unique design and manufacturing capabilities, the EliteSiC M3e MOSFETs significantly reduce on-off and on-off losses in a reliable and proven planar architecture. Compared to previous generations, the platform is able to reduce on-off losses by 30% and on-off losses by up to 50%[based on internal comparative testing with EliteSiC M3T MOSFETs]. By extending the life of SiC planar MOSFETs and leveraging EliteSiC M3e technology to achieve outstanding performance, On can ensure the robustness and stability of the platform, making it the technology of choice for critical electrification applications.

The EliteSiC M3e MOSFETs also offer ultra-low on-resistance (RSP) and short-circuit resistance, which are critical for main-drive inverter applications that dominate the SiC market. Using ON's advanced discrete and power module package, the 1200V M3e strip delivers a larger phase current than previous EliteSiC technology, increasing the output power of a comparably sized main drive inverter by approximately 20%. In other words, while keeping the output power constant, the new design can require 20% less SiC material, cost less and enable a smaller, lighter and more reliable system design.

In addition, On offers a broader range of smart power technologies, including gate drivers, DC-DC converters, electronic fuses, and more, all of which can be used with the EliteSiC M3e platform. With this integrated end-to-end technology portfolio of optimized and co-designed power switches, drivers and controllers from On, advanced features can be integrated and overall system costs reduced.

Accelerate the development of future power technology

With global energy demand expected to increase dramatically over the next decade, increasing the power density of semiconductors becomes critical. On is actively following its silicon carbide technology roadmap, leading industry innovation from bare chip architecture to new packaging technologies to continue to meet the industry's demand for higher power density.

Each new generation of silicon carbide technology optimizes the cell structure to efficiently transmit larger currents over a smaller area, resulting in increased power density. Combined with the company's own advanced packaging technology, ON can maximize performance and reduce package size. By introducing Moore's Law into the development of silicon carbide technology, On can develop multiple generations of products in parallel, accelerating the realization of its roadmap to accelerate the launch of multiple new EliteSiC products by 2030.

"With decades of deep experience in power semiconductors, we continue to push the boundaries of our engineering and manufacturing capabilities to meet the world's growing energy needs. Mrinal Das, Senior Director of technical Marketing for ON's Power Solutions business group, said, "There is a strong interdependence between silicon carbide materials, devices and packaging technologies. Having complete control over these critical processes gives On a better grasp of the design and manufacturing process, allowing us to introduce new generations of products more quickly."