Polar to license Renesas’ GaN-on-Si technology and onshore commercial fabrication of 650V-class devices on 200mm wafers

Polar Semiconductor of Bloomington, MN, USA (the only US-owned merchant foundry specializing in sensor, power and high-voltage semiconductors) has finalized a strategic agreement with Renesas Electronics Corp of Tokyo, Japan to license its gallium nitride-on-silicon (GaN-on-Si) D-mode 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, which was recently expanded with state-of-the-art processing and automation equipment.

Polar and Renesas will work together to scale commercial production of GaN devices, aiming to expand its use across critical industries, including automotive, data-center, consumer, industrial and aerospace & defense markets. The agreement ensures that the USA has a reliable, domestic source for this technology.

It is expected that market adoption of GaN technology will be accelerated through cost efficiency and innovative device architectures enabled by scaling to 200mm fabrication. By leveraging Polar’s manufacturing expertise and Renesas’ proven power semiconductor technology and commercial role, the strategic collaboration gives customers a secure supply of cost-competitive, high-quality and high-performance GaN device wafers.

“This licensing and commercial production agreement underscores our commitment to strengthening the domestic semiconductor ecosystem,” says Polar’s president & chief operating officer Surya Iyer. “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,” he reckons.

“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 and AI to energy and industrial to e-mobility and xEVs to high-value IoT,” says Chris Allexandre, senior VP & general manager of Renesas’ Power Products Group. “This collaboration ensures a strong, US-based manufacturing capability for GaN products, provides multi-sourcing to our customers, and meets the growing demand for high-performance power solutions.”