Gallium Nitride: The Upcoming Future of Power Industry

BIS Research
4 min readDec 17, 2021

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Gallium nitride refers to a broad bandgap semiconductor like silicon.

Silicon has always been the best semiconductor since the 1940s. Silicon also happens to be one of the building blocks in the present-day computer chips. In the past few years, silicon technology has been enhanced to perfection.

Compound semiconductors, formed from two or more additional elements such as gallium nitride (GaN), have overcome silicon in terms of properties such as detection, light, emission, spin transport, and speed, which are supposed to empower devices like autonomous cars and devices based on 6G technology. So, in this blog, we will cover gallium nitride (GaN) in depth.

What does semiconductor mean?

In simple words, semiconductor refers to those materials that have the potential of conducting current similar to metals. The advantage of semiconductors is that the demand for conduction can be adjusted during the process of fabrication.

What is Gallium Nitride (GaN)?

Gallium nitride refers to a broad bandgap semiconductor like silicon. It can be used for making semiconductor devices like transistors and diodes. The GaN transistors enhancements have been launched in the interest of the electronic industry as a substitute for transistors made from silicon.

GaN transistors have got notable advantages in comparison to silicon in theareas that allow the power supply to boost efficiency level while decreasing the weight and size of the devices, on the other hand.

Today, GaN adoption has been increasing at a high rate. It is being developed and implemented in thousands of applications such as satellites, jammers, community antenna television (CATV )modules, base stations for 3G/4G, and radars. Therefore, this technology is becoming the first choice for the applications that require the transmission of signals for far distances, such as satellite communicationGallium nitride transistors have evolved over the years from gallium arsenide.

Following are a few of the benefits offered by GaN:

  • The operating voltage of GaN is higher (over 100-V breakdown).
  • The temperature for operating gallium nitrides is higher (over 150°C).
  • GaN has a high power density (5 to 30 W/mm).
  • GaN is a crack-resistant and durable material.

GaN applications are often developed on SIC (silicon carbide) substrates.

However, to keep the GaN device price low, it has been developed on silicon wafers and sapphire. The wide bandgap of GaN allows for operation at higher temperatures and breakdown voltages. The higher thermal conductivity of silicon carbide results in making GaN a better substrate in comparison to silicon for those applications requiring suitable heat sinking.

Gallium Nitride: Commercial Applications

Radiofrequency (RF), power, and light-emitting diode (LED) are the three main applications of gallium nitride. GaN sensors are the fourth application that is showing significant potential these days. Hydrogen sensing, pH analysis, protein and DNA sensing, and mercury detection are among some of the areas that are being explored with GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT). The reason behind this aoption is the growing demand for multiple sensors, and most of the sensors present today are based on silicon materials. So, in the coming years, the possibilities of GaN opening new areas of innovation for sensors are high.

As per the CEO of the GaN system, Jim Witham, the possibilities of combining sensors, optical functions, and power functions on small applications are not too far in the coming future.

Reasons Behind the High Demand for GaN

The data generated by 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT) devices is high, which needs more data storage and requires more servers and power suppliers. GaN devices can reduce the consumption of power and increase the supply, which can be helpful for the customers in saving the operational costs and allowing more servers on the track. Similarly, automotive advanced driver-assistance systems (ADDAS) and self-driven cars are also generating a large amount of data, and to manage this, manufactures are building big data centres. Also, the amount of electrification done in electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles is high. It is also increasing the demand for semiconductors. So, to meet this rising demand, GaN use can be highly impactful in the coming few years.

The developing IoT process will havemovements as car-to-car (C2C) or machine-to-machine (M2M) contact at high speed. The speed needed for such communications is around 10 gigabits (10 gb) per second. Therefore, such demands can be met with the help of semiconductors based on gallium nitride material.

Insights on Gallium Nitride Market:

The gallium nitride market is in the developing stage, with North America at the top, followed by Europe, Asia-Pacific, the United Kingdom, China, and the rest of the world.

As per the report of Bis Research, the value of the gallium nitride market in 2020 was $270.00 million. However, it is projected to touch $2,956.03 million by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 24.65% during 2021–2031.

The market is driven by different factors like the use of gallium nitride in EVs for reaching their level of efficiency, constant improvement of GaN ecosystem and, suitability of GaN for radiofrequency devices.

Conclusion:

Electronic devices based on GaN have the capabilities of cutting down on the power consumption not only for consumer devices but also for transmission utilities. The GaN transistors have a resistance of one-tenth in comparison to transistors based on silicon, which allows for higher energy efficiency.

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BIS Research
BIS Research

Written by BIS Research

BIS Research is recognized for its comprehensive market research reports and business intelligence services across various industries. https://bisresearch.com

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