SiC, GaN electronics: Where, when, and how big?

Silicon’s vice-like grip of the power electronics market in coming under increasing pressure from a pair of wide bandgap semiconductors.

Richard Eden

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I spent last winter researching the emerging market for power semiconductor materials, silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN). It became apparent that technology research and development is meaningless unless there are practical applications that demand the benefits which manufacturers of these deivices claim to deliver. Therefore, a large part of my work involved assessing the demand, adoption rates and timings from key industry sectors. The results were published the IMS Research report “The World Market for Silicon Carbide and Gallium Nitride Power Semiconductors - 2012 Edition.”

Silicon’s vice-like grip of the power electronics market in coming under increasing pressure from a pair of wide bandgap semiconductors. Switching from silicon electronics to wide bandgap alternatives promises to deliver improvements in the performance of power supplies, wind turbines, solar systems, hybrid electric vehicles, trams, trains and industrial machinery.

Richard Eden is a senior analyst at IMS Research (IHS Inc.)