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GaNSiC: Accelerating the use of GaN and SiC in future power electronic applications

Date: 23.07.2025

Topics: Power Electronics

GANNT

GaNSiC

GaNSiC (Gallium Nitride Silicon Carbide) set out to transform how advanced compound semiconductors are manufactured for power electronics applications.

As electric vehicles and aviation move toward Net Zero, the demand for smaller, lighter, and more efficient power modules is growing rapidly.

GaNSiC aimed to meet this challenge by creating a new manufacturing approach to make it easier and more cost-effective to integrate wide bandgap materials such as gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) into high-performance electronic devices.

This 13-month, £300,000 project brought together Customer Interconnect Limited (CIL) and CSA Catapult under Innovate UK’s ‘Driving the Electric Revolution’ challenge.

The challenge

Compound semiconductors like GaN and SiC offer significantly better efficiency and thermal performance than traditional silicon, but integrating them into practical, scalable electronic systems has remained a major hurdle.

Manufacturing techniques are either too costly, unreliable, or lacked the precision required for thermal management in power modules.

The GaNSiC team sought to develop a novel method of applying silver sinter pastes to compound semiconductors, aiming to optimise thermal coupling and simplify complex power module assembly.

Achieving this would enable better-performing modules suitable for next-generation battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and electric aircraft.

The approach

GaNSiC combined advanced R&D capabilities with practical manufacturing insight.

CSA Catapult supported the design, modelling, and validation of new assembly methods.

CIL provided essential customer input and production expertise to ensure industrial relevance.

The project followed a systematic process:

  • Customer specifications were captured to define realistic performance goals.
  • Circuits were designed and modelled to replicate these requirements.
  • Extensive research was conducted into jetting parameters and environmental conditions for applying silver sinter material.
  • Physical trials followed, including assembly, rigorous thermal and dynamic testing, microscopy, and material evaluation.
  • Finally, the project mapped out a scalable supply chain to bring the technology closer to market readiness.

The outcome

GaNSiC successfully demonstrated a cost-effective manufacturing approach for applying silver sinter pastes to GaN and SiC devices, advancing the technology readiness level from TRL 4 to TRL 7, making it ready for integration into pilot systems.

This innovation enables improved thermal coupling in power electronics, helping to make systems more compact and efficient.

These advances support the wider adoption of electric vehicles and by reducing weight, improving performance, and lowering costs.

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