“GaN technology is paving the way for more energy-efficient and CO 2-saving solutions that support decarbonization. Adoption in applications like mobile charging, data center power supplies, residential solar inverters, and onboard chargers for electric vehicles is at the tipping point, leading to a dynamic market growth,” said Jochen Hanebeck (pictured) CEO of Infineon. “The planned acquisition of GaN Systems will significantly accelerate our GaN roadmap, based on unmatched R&D resources, application understanding and customer project pipeline. Following our strategy, the combination will further strengthen Infineon’s leadership in Power Systems through mastery of all relevant power technologies, be it on silicon, silicon carbide or gallium nitride.”

As a wide bandgap material, GaN offers customer value by higher power density, higher efficiency, and size reductions, especially at higher switching frequencies.

These properties enable energy savings and smaller form factors, making GaN suited for a wide range of applications.

GaN is becoming a key material for power semiconductors, alongside silicon and silicon-carbide, and coupled with new topologies, such as Hybrid Flyback and multi-level implementations.

In February 2022, Infineon announced doubling down on wide bandgap by investing more than €2 billion in a new frontend fab in Kulim, Malaysia, strengthening its market position.

The first wafers will leave the fab in the second half of 2024, adding to Infineon’s existing wide bandgap manufacturing capacities in Villach, Austria.