Renesas offers GaN power transistors after Transphorm deal

Renesas Electronics has completed the acquisition of GaN transistor maker Transphorm.

“With the closing of the acquisition now completed, Renesas will immediately start offering GaN-based power products and related reference designs to meet the rising demand for wide bandgap semiconductor products,” said Renesas. “Investing in the power business is an important part of Renesas’ strategy.”

Other recent moves it has made in this direction are: opening its Kofu Factory to make power products on 300mm wafers, ramping up a silicon carbide device production line at its Takasaki Factory and signing 10 year SiC wafer supply agreement with Wolfspeed

Transphorm is based in Goleta, California, having been founded there in 2007.

Its technology is cascode: co-packaging a low-voltage enhancement-mode silicon mosfet in a cascode configuration with a high-voltage (650 or 900V) depletion-mode GaN hemt.

The result is a device that can be switched using conventional drivers intended for silicon mosfets rather than GaN-specific drivers.