BLOOMINGTON, Minn. & HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SkyWater Technology, the innovators’ trusted partner for a competitive edge, today announced that Steifpower Technology, a fabless power semiconductor provider, has chosen SkyWater as its manufacturing partner for discrete power devices, addressing the strong demand for efficient power management in systems with increasing connectivity, sensor and semiconductor content. Specifically, the companies will collaborate to design and manufacture power MOSFETs (metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors), IGBTs (insulated-gate bipolar transistors), and related power discrete devices, targeting Tier 1 automotive customers.
Steifpower, with over 30 years of power semiconductor experience, is utilizing SkyWater’s Integrated process Flow Transfer (SWIFT) services to rapidly ramp production, meeting its end customers’ product development milestones. The initial engagement is focused on transferring a high performance power MOSFET with excellent low Ciss (input capacitance) characteristics for better switching frequency as well as the lowest RDS(on) (device operating resistance) on the market for better efficiency in applications up to 200V.
In addition, SkyWater will process Steifpower’s advanced IGBTs with best in class switch frequency and embedded backside diode for applications up to 1700V. These high efficiency devices with very low power losses provide several advantages for vehicles such as better fuel consumption and decreased CO2 emissions, increased operating temperature, higher alternator efficiency, and better heat dissipation with lower forward voltage (voltage drop).
According to Yole Développement, the total power MOSFET market continues to grow and is estimated to be $7.5 billion USD in 2020, a 3.4% CAGR from 2016 to 2020. Yole also sees substantial growth for the IGBT market, with electronic vehicles and charging stations driving silicon IGBTs, estimating market growth of 10-12.5% per year between 2016 and 2022.
“The automotive industry is seeing record levels of semiconductor content to support exciting capabilities for safety, efficiency and convenience,” said Dr. Brad Ferguson, SkyWater’s Chief Technology Officer. “This trend drives strong demand for high efficiency onboard power management like that enabled by Steifpower’s technology. We are very pleased about our collaboration with Steifpower which positions us to better address these key markets.”
“SkyWater’s Technology Foundry model and expertise in developing custom process flows is well aligned with Steifpower’s needs to support new products on our technology roadmap,” said Domenico Lo Verde, Founder & Managing Director. “We are excited to be working with SkyWater on this and other projects in the future.”
About Steifpower Technology
Steifpower is a fabless power devices design company. The company is formed by a team of professional that have very rich experience in power industry and keep innovating new device structure and manufacturing method to optimize power system efficiency. Steifpower offers a wide range of power devices and the major focusing areas are consumer electronics, computing, home appliances, Electric-vehicles, Solar power and motor control. For more information, please visit our web site: www.steifpower.com.
About SkyWater Technology
SkyWater is a solely U.S.-based and owned, DMEA-accredited Category 1A Trusted Foundry. Through its Technology Foundry model, SkyWater provides custom design and development services, exclusive design IP, and volume manufacturing for integrated circuits and micro devices. The Company’s world-class operations and unique processing capabilities enable mixed-signal CMOS, rad-hard and ROIC solutions. SkyWater’s Innovation Engineering Services empower development of superconducting and 3D ICs, along with carbon nanotube, photonic and MEMS devices. SkyWater serves customers in growing markets such as aerospace & defense, automotive, cloud & computing, consumer, industrial, IoT and medical. For more information, please visit: www.skywatertechnology.com/.
