Nexperia has announced a comprehensive partnership covering gallium nitride (GaN) power semiconductor devices with United Automotive Electronic Systems Co., Ltd. (UAES). The program will focus on power systems for EVs, with the aim to jointly develop automotive applications using GaN technology.

The electrification of cars, the increasing high power requirements of telecommunication equipment for 5G and the rise of Industry 4.0 require power conversion efficiencies for which GaN is expected to become the mainstream technology. These trends underpin the growing demand for power semiconductors in 2021 and beyond. UAES has already started using Nexperia GaN FETs in R&D and collaborative projects including vehicle-mounted chargers and high-voltage DC-to-DC converters for electric cars. Nexperia's GaN technology has extremely good figures of merit (RDS(on) x QGD) and reverse recovery charge (Qrr) metrics that support high switching frequencies and efficient power conversion. Nexperia produces GaN based on mature and reliable mass production techniques, largely in its own global production facilities, to manufacture products according to automotive AEC-Q101 standards.

UAES provides car manufacturers with advanced and comprehensive automotive powertrain and body control system solutions. It specializes in the development, production, and sales of gasoline engine management systems, transmission control systems, vehicle body electronics, and hybrid and electric drive control systems. Its five technology centers in China have world-class laboratories for entire vehicles, engines, automatic transmissions, and electric drive performance development. The advanced equipment effectively provides high-quality engineering services including system development, component development, and calibration for various Chinese car manufacturers.

Paul Zhang, SVP Sales & Marketing and General Manager, Nexperia, China comments: "The power density and efficiency of silicon-based GaN field-effect transistors will play key roles in the electrification of cars. We recognize the broad offering, industry position, and customer basis that UAES has in the automotive industry and we believe that our intensified collaboration in GaN will help both companies to deliver more advanced and efficient EV power system solutions to our customers. Earlier this month, we announced an increase in global production and R&D investment to fully support new product development. We intend to expand our investments and jointly to create a laboratory to develop automotive GaN technology applications."

A senior management spokesperson at UAES states: "We are pleased to work with Nexperia on the development of innovative EV vehicle power system solutions based on GaN technology. Nexperia is a leading semiconductor supplier for automotive applications. This partnership will help us reduce the number of devices used, reduce costs, increase power density, and increase the reliability and effectiveness of the entire system."