BelGaN Releases its First Generation 650V eGaN technology for production

BelGaN Releases its First Generation 650V eGaN technology for production

by BelGaN

Brussels, Belgium, August 8, 2023 — BelGaN, a leading GaN (Gallium Nitride) automotive semiconductor foundry in Europe, launches its 1st Generation 650V eGaN technology into production. Our Gen1 technology is expected to perform at par with world’s leading GaN foundries and IDMs, especially for high energy-efficient soft switch applications. This is a significant milestone achieved only one year after BelGaN completed the acquisition of the onsemi Fab.

BelGaN is building the foundation for the “GaN ValleyTM”, a growing and innovative ecosystem for GaN-based chips and power electronics with applications in Electrical Vehicle, Mobile, Industrial, Data Center and renewable energy markets in Europe and beyond. This is well aligned with the European ambition for greater chip autonomy (European Chips Act) and a carbon-neutral society (Green Deal).

Only a few months after its inception by BelGaN, the GaN ValleyTM ecosystem already counts over 40 member companies and institutions along the value chain of the GaN industry in Europe.

“Getting GaN into production is the first leap to realize our vision to build the GaN ValleyTM”, said Rob Willems, General Manager & VP Operations, BelGaN “While others took several years to bring GaN process and technology to manufacturing, we are able to do it in record one year leveraging more than 200 man-years of GaN technology development expertise with over 30 years of high-volume automotive production experiences”.

The BelGaN team and Fab started as MIETEC in 1983, it was acquired by Alcatel then AMIS, sold to onsemi in 2008, it started GaN development in 2009 and it has been building expertise in production of automotive semiconductors for more than 30 years. The site in Oudenaarde is currently transforming from a Silicon site to a GaN site. This will give an innovation-driven growth boost to the region and provide short- and long-term employment opportunities in Belgium with multiple career opportunities in R&D, operations, and various service departments. 

“These are exciting times for BelGaN and the GaN community” said Dr.Marnix Tack, CTO and VP Business Development, BelGaN “our Gen1 650V emode GaN technology is our entry platform in the market, targeting high energy-efficient soft switch applications, with a performance at par with industry leaders. It serves as the baseline for our Gen2 and Gen3 platforms that are currently under development for release later this year and early next year.”

BelGaN and GaN ValleyTM are driven by energy and climate mega-trends on increased electrification for higher sustainability and carbon neutrality (solar- and wind-energy, electric cars etc.), at affordable energy costs. E.g., according to industry experts, every GaN device shipped would save 4kg CO2.

About BelGaN (www.belgan.com)：

BelGaN’s vision is to become a leading 6 inch and 8 inch GaN Foundry in Belgium, at the heart of Europe, developing GaN technologies and manufacturing GaN products. Going forward an extensive and rich roadmap of new GaN technologies including Gen2, Gen3, V-GaN，GaN-IC, will be developed and qualified for the high demands of the automotive market, amongst others.

About GaN ValleyTM（www.ganvalley.org)：

GaN ValleyTM targets a growing industry for electronic systems in which energy supply and usage of electrical energy will become increasingly more efficient (less energy waste), smaller, lighter, and lower cost compared to its Silicon counterpart. Since its launch in April, already over 40 companies and institutions in Europe joined and are supporting these initiatives.

Media Contact:

Marleen Polet

E: Marleen.Polet@belgan.com

Investor Contact:

Kapple Wang

E: Kapple.Wang@belgan.com

European Chips Act: towards EU semiconductor autonomy

European Chips Act: towards EU semiconductor autonomy

by beladmin

BY Allen & Overy

The European Commission (the Commission) plans to adopt a European Chips Act (the Act) in 2022. The aim is for the European Union (EU) to double its market share in semiconductors (also referred to as chips or microchips) from 10% to at least 20% by 2030.

The Commission also intends for the EU to produce higher quality chips since the majority of advanced microchips are currently produced in Asia. The Commission is clear that the EU will need to coordinate its research, chip design, production capacity and industry cooperation to achieve this goal.

Chips are vital to a wide range of technological advances and digital transformations. There is currently a worldwide shortage of chips that is impacting on the supply of a variety of goods such as internet routers, gaming consoles and vehicles. Therefore the Commission is aiming to reduce the EU’s reliance on suppliers based in third countries. However, the Commission sees the Act more broadly as supporting the EU’s overall position in the race for global technological and industrial leadership.

The Act in outline

It is expected that the Act will cover three key areas:

  • designing a European Semiconductor Research Strategy to leverage Europe’s existing research partnership (the KDT Joint Undertaking) and the EU’s research capacity;
  • creating a collective plan to enhance European production capacity through monitoring the EU’s industrial supply chains, anticipating possible future disruptions, and ensuring the resilience of the EU’s entire supply chain. In particular, the Act is intended to support the development of fabrication plants – “mega fabs” – able to produce the most advanced (towards 2nm and below) and energy-efficient semiconductors in high volumes; and
  • forming a framework for international cooperation and partnership.

The European Chips Act will support the work of the Industrial Alliance for Processors and Semiconductor Technologies (the Alliance) which was formed in July 2021. The Alliance is intended to bring together industry, consumers, and research and technology organisations to identify issues and opportunities across the semiconductor industry. The Alliance will have two main lines of action: reinforcement of the EU’s electronics design ecosystem and establishment of the necessary manufacturing capacity.

Additionally, the Commission is exploring setting up a dedicated European Semiconductor Fund.

Next steps

It is clear that the Commission’s intention is to integrate and leverage national efforts at the EU Member State-level to avoid national public subsidies fragmenting the single market. This could create substantial opportunities for businesses active in the semiconductor industry as EU-level resources are brought to bear. The Act will sit alongside equivalent initiatives globally in countries such as the U.S. and China and continued efforts at the Member State-level. Indeed, on 20 December 2021, the German government announced that it will support investments of more than EUR 10 billion in the country’s microchip industry through 32 industry projects. We will be closely monitoring developments ahead of the Act being published in early 2022.