TI start GaN production in Japan, quadruples capacity

Coupled with its existing GaN manufacturing in Dallas, Texas, TI will now internally manufacture four times more GaN-based power semiconductors, as Aizu ramps to production.

"Building on more than a decade of expertise in GaN chip design and manufacturing, we have successfully qualified our 200mm GaN technology – the most scalable and cost-competitive way to manufacture GaN today – to start mass production in Aizu," says Mohammad Yunus, TI's senior vice president of Technology and Manufacturing, in a press release. "This milestone enables us to manufacture more of our GaN chips internally as we grow our internal manufacturing to more than 95% by 2030, while also sourcing from multiple TI locations, ensuring a reliable supply of our entire GaN portfolio of high-power, energy-efficient semiconductors."

As an alternative to silicon, GaN offers benefits in energy efficiency, switching speed, power solution size and weight, overall system cost, and performance under high temperatures and high-voltage conditions. GaN chips provide more power density, or power in smaller spaces, enabling applications such as power adapters for laptops and mobile phones, or smaller, more energy-efficient motors for heating and air conditioning systems and home appliances.

"With GaN, TI can deliver more power, more efficiently in a compact space, which is the primary market need driving innovation for many of our customers," says Kannan Soundarapandian, vice president of High-Voltage Power at TI. "As designers of systems such as server power, solar energy generation and AC/DC adapters face challenges to reduce power consumption and enhance energy efficiency, they are increasingly demanding a reliable supply of TI's high-performance GaN-based chips."

Further, TI's expanded GaN manufacturing processes are fully transferable to 300mm technology, positioning the company to readily scale to customer needs and move to 300mm in the future.