Polar to onshore fabrication of advanced devices on 200mm wafers
Polar Semiconductor, a US-owned merchant foundry specialising in sensor, power, and high-voltage semiconductors, has signed a strategic agreement with Renesas to license their Gallium Nitride on Silicon D-Mode (GaN-on-Si) technology.
As part of this agreement, Polar will fabricate High Voltage 650V Class GaN-on-Si devices for Renesas and other customers in its 200mm automotive quality high-volume manufacturing facility in Minnesota. This facility, recently expanded with new processing and automation equipment, is poised to meet growing demand for next-gen semiconductor solutions.
Polar and Renesas will work together to scale commercial production of GaN devices, expanding its use across critical industries, including automotive, data centre, consumer, industrial, and aerospace & defence markets. Polar states in a press release that the agreement ensures the US has a reliable, domestic source for this semiconductor technology.
“This licensing and commercial production agreement underscores our commitment to strengthening the domestic semiconductor ecosystem. GaN is a game-changing technology for Power and RF, and with Renesas as our partner, we are well-positioned to ramp commercial production, secure key defense programs, and drive the next wave of semiconductor innovation,” says Surya Iyer, President and COO of Polar Semiconductor in the press release.
“We are excited to partner with Polar to scale our proven GaN technology to 200mm wafers and leverage our know-how across broad power conversion markets ranging from Infrastructure & AI to Energy & Industrial to e-Mobility & xEVs to high-value IoT,” adds Chris Allexandre, SVP & GM, Power Products Group, at Renesas. “This collaboration ensures a strong, U.S.-based manufacturing capability for GaN products, provides multi-sourcing to our customers, and meets the growing demand for high-performance power solutions.”
