Renesas Electronics (TSE: 6723), a global supplier of semiconductor solutions, today announced the launch of a new generation of Si-IGBT (Silicon-Based Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) devices that deliver lower power losses in a smaller size. For next-generation electric vehicle (EVs) inverter applications, mass production of AE5-generation IGBT products will begin in the first half of 2023 on 200mm and 300mm wafer lines at Renesas' Naka factory in Japan. In addition, Renesas will ramp up production at its new 300mm wafer fab for power semiconductor devices in Kofu, Japan, starting in the first half of 2024, to meet growing market demand for power semiconductor products.

The silicon-based AE5 process for IGBTs reduces power losses by 10% compared to current generation AE4 products, an energy-saving technology that will help EV developers conserve battery power and increase driving range. The new product is about 10% smaller in volume while maintaining high robustness. This new Renesas device achieves an industry-leading level of performance in IGBTs by striking the best balance between low power loss and high robustness. This IGBT minimizes parameter variation between IGBTs and brings stability when the IGBTs are operated in parallel, thereby significantly improving the performance and safety of the module. These features provide engineers with greater flexibility to design small inverters that achieve high performance.

Katsuya Konishi, Vice President of the Power System Business Unit at Renesas Electronics, also said: "With the popularity of electric vehicles, the market demand for automotive power semiconductors has risen rapidly. Based on our rich experience in the manufacture of automotive-grade power products in the past seven years, Renesas' IGBTs provide a highly reliable and robust power supply solution. With the latest devices coming into mass production, Renesas will create ideal features and price-performance ratios for the mid-range EV inverter market expected to grow rapidly in the future."

Key Features of New Generation IGBT (AE5)

Ÿ Includes four products for 400-800V inverters: 750V withstand voltage (220A and 300A) and 1200V withstand voltage (150A and 200A)

Ÿ Stable performance over the entire operating junction temperature (Tj) range of -40°C to 175°C

Ÿ The industry's highest performance level, the on-voltage Vce (saturation voltage) is 1.3V (the key value to minimize power loss)

Ÿ 10% higher current density than conventional products, small chip size (100mm2/300A) optimized for low power consumption and high input resistance

Ÿ Stable parallel operation is achieved by reducing parameter variation to VGE(off) to ±0.5V

Ÿ Maintains Reverse Bias Safe Operating Area (RBSOA), maximum Ic current pulse of 600A at 175°C junction temperature, and highly robust short circuit withstand time of 4μs at 400V

Ÿ 50% reduction in temperature dependence of gate resistance (Rg), thereby minimizing switching losses at high temperature, peak voltage and short-circuit withstand time at low temperature, enabling high-performance designs

Ÿ Available as bare die (wafer)

Ÿ Can reduce the power loss of the inverter. At the same current density, the power efficiency is improved by 6% compared to the current AE4 process, enabling EVs to travel longer distances with fewer batteries

Inverter Solutions for EVs

In an electric vehicle, the motor that drives the vehicle is controlled by an inverter. Switching devices such as IGBTs are critical to minimizing power consumption in EVs as inverters convert DC power to AC power required by EV motors. To help developers, Renesas has introduced the xEV inverter reference solution. This hardware reference design combines an IGBT, a microcontroller, a power management IC (PMIC), a gate driver IC, and a fast recovery diode (FRD). Renesas also offers an xEV inverter kit as a hardware implementation of the reference design. In addition, Renesas introduced a motor parameter calibration tool, as well as xEV inverter application models and software that combine a motor control application model with example software. These tools and support programs are designed to help users simplify their software development efforts. Renesas also plans to add next-generation IGBTs to these hardware and software development kits to achieve better power efficiency and performance in a smaller space.

Availability

Samples of Renesas' 750V tolerant version and 300A are available now, and other versions are planned to be released in the future.