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  • Author Author: rscasny
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How will GaN change the world of electronics design in the next decade?

rscasny

Silicon has been the kingpin of the semiconductor industry for a long time. And it should be: it has an ideal crystal structure for use as a semiconductor, But in today's world where ultra-low power and an extremely small package are two important factors in electronics design, maybe silicon has sort of reached its limits. What's the alternative?

 

As a semiconductor material, gallium nitride (GaN) is getting the attention that silicon once had. GaN works will in high voltage and high temperature applications. Plus it has high switching frequencies than silicon and attractive for its high energy efficiency.

 

So, how will GaN change the world of electronics design in the next decade?

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  • I'm not too clued-up on the physics of it all, but I'm especially interested in GaN LEDs. Some manufacturers concentrated on that, presumably because they'd invested in GaN technology for power applications too, and it takes years to refine their processes. Whereas other manufacturers might have started with a different technology (e.g. Silicon Carbide) and are expanding into that. Apparently there's many variants too, like GaN devices grown on SiC, or grown on sapphire, and again the manufacturers have to spend years /decades refining things, not knowing for sure if the research will bear fruit, or if an alternative technology will take over (especially if the processes to work with it end up cheaper or more reliable for instance).

    So, it's very exciting, continually seeing the improvements in light quality and efficiency that they're achieving.

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  • I'm not too clued-up on the physics of it all, but I'm especially interested in GaN LEDs. Some manufacturers concentrated on that, presumably because they'd invested in GaN technology for power applications too, and it takes years to refine their processes. Whereas other manufacturers might have started with a different technology (e.g. Silicon Carbide) and are expanding into that. Apparently there's many variants too, like GaN devices grown on SiC, or grown on sapphire, and again the manufacturers have to spend years /decades refining things, not knowing for sure if the research will bear fruit, or if an alternative technology will take over (especially if the processes to work with it end up cheaper or more reliable for instance).

    So, it's very exciting, continually seeing the improvements in light quality and efficiency that they're achieving.

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