Nuremberg, Germany based power modules maker SEMIKRON has announced that ROHM Semiconductor’s fourth generation (4G) silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs have been fully qualified in SEMIKRON’s eMPack modules for automotive use. Concurrently, SEMIKRON also secured a billion-Euro (U.S. $1.01 billion) contract to supply its innovative eMPack power modules to a major German car maker, beginning in 2025. Meanwhile, for eMPack, the company has developed a fully sintered assembly and connection technology ‘Direct Pressed Die’ (DPD), which enables extremely compact, scalable and reliable traction inverters, said SEMIKRON. The eMPack module technology has been specially designed for SiC-based converters of medium and high power in order to fully exploit the properties of the new semiconductor material. ROHM’s 4G SiC MOSFETs include 750 V and 1200 V devices.
In addition, SEMIKRON has readied evaluation boards (Figure 1) for eMPack that incorporates ROHM’s gate driver ICs, in addition to 4G SiC MOSFETs, helping customers shorten the time required for evaluation and adoption. In the future, SEMIKRON said that it also plans to use ROHM’s IGBTs in modules for industrial applications.
“Thanks to ROHM’s SiC technology, SEMIKRON’s innovative eMPack family of power modules is ready to make a significant contribution to reducing emissions through e-mobility,” said Karl-Heinz Gaubatz, CEO and CTO at SEMIKRON. “ROHM’s SiC technology provides more efficiency, performance and reliability in automotive and also industrial applications.”
ROHM produces SiC components in-house in a vertically integrated manufacturing system and thus delivers high quality, energy-saving products while achieving a constant market supply. ROHM’s production subsidiary SiCrystal, located in Nuremberg, Germany, plans to expand its SiC wafer capacities and human resources – to produce several 100,000 substrates a year.
In a statement, ROHM Co., Ltd.’s president and CEO Isao Matsumoto said, “We are glad that SEMIKRON has selected ROHM as SiC supplier for the automotive qualified eMPack. This partnership leads to a competitive solution for inverter application use inside electrical vehicles.” “ROHM offers a broad portfolio of SiC devices – from chips to packages. As the demand for SiC will continue to grow, ROHM will accelerate further investment and product development based on the technology we have cultivated as a leading SiC manufacturer. In addition, our company will continue to propose solutions and deliver customer support,” added Matsumoto.
According to ROHM, it’s latest 4G SiC MOSFETs, which has been adopted by SEMIKRON, provides industry-leading low ON resistance with improved short-circuit withstand time. These characteristics contribute significantly to extend the driving length and miniaturize the batteries of EVs when they are used in traction inverters.
Both companies will continue to contribute to automotive technology innovations by providing optimal power solutions that meet market needs through the fusion of ROHM’s device/control technologies and SEMIKRON’s module technologies.
