Silicon carbide has another killer application

In response to the demand for "fast, small, light and thin" mobile phone fast charging chargers, silicon carbide power devices have recently seen another killer application.

In extremely compact applications such as mobile phone chargers, PCB area is extremely precious. Ultra-thin PD fast charging usually gives priority to surface-mount devices with a thickness of less than 2mm. Recently, Basic Semiconductor has launched new SMBF packaged silicon carbide Schottky diodes. The biggest advantage of the SMBF packaged silicon carbide Schottky diode unveiled by Basic Semiconductor this time is that it is "fast, small, light and thin". Its length, width and height are only 5.3mm*3.6mm*1.35mm respectively, and it is thinner than the SMB package (thickness 2.3mm), and smaller than the DFN series package and TO-252 package area.

Figure 1 Ultra-small silicon carbide device for mobile phone charger

With the industry's pursuit of power density and the popularization of gallium nitride power devices, active PFC needs to increase the operating frequency to reduce the core volume. At this time, the performance of conventional FRD can no longer meet the needs of rectification at high frequencies, which creates favorable conditions for the application of silicon carbide diodes in PFC.

In fact, in 2020, when most fast charging source manufacturers were still exploring the 65W gallium nitride fast charging market, Baseus launched the industry's first 120W gallium nitride + silicon carbide fast charging charger. It was this product that turned "silicon carbide fast charging" from an idea into a reality for the first time, opening the door to the commercial use of silicon carbide in the field of fast charging.

Figure 2 The world’s first silicon carbide charger

Subsequently, manufacturers such as MOMAX and REMAX followed up and launched a variety of 100-watt high-power fast charging sources based on silicon carbide, which also allowed more and more industry insiders and consumers to have a better understanding of silicon carbide.

In addition to basic semiconductors, my country's silicon carbide device companies this year also exhibited three 100-watt fast charging reference designs based on silicon carbide diodes at the Shanghai Munich Exhibition, covering three popular power segments of 200W, 120W and 100W. Among them, the 200W and 120W reference designs use PFC+LLC architecture and multi-port output. Silicon carbide suppliers currently on the market that can be used in the field of high-power USB PD fast charging sources include Alpha Power Solutions, Maplesemi, SGKS, PY Pingwei, etc.

Figure 3 Silicon carbide PD fast charging module launched by Tyco Tianrun

The author believes that the essence of silicon carbide technology lies in high power density. Not only is it developing well in high-power fields such as 5G base stations, new energy vehicles, high-speed rail, and smart grids, but it is also very useful in areas such as wearable devices, mobile phone chargers, and high-end LEDs that have low power and low voltage but also require high power density.

The third-generation semiconductor charger market is vast

Take mobile phone chargers as an example. In order to meet the needs of users for fast charging, the output power of the charger has increased by about 10 times in the past ten years. At the same time, for the sake of user experience, the size and weight of the charger have not been increased as much as possible.

Basically continuing the above demand trend, assuming that global mobile phone sales reach 1.5 billion units by 2025, the market penetration rate of third-generation semiconductor chargers reaches 25%, and the price of third-generation semiconductor chargers drops to 80 yuan, then the market size of third-generation semiconductor chargers will be as high as 30 billion yuan.

Figure 4 Future market forecast

Data source "2021 Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Industry Research Report"

In addition, in addition to mobile phone chargers, third-generation semiconductor devices also have bright prospects in the fields of wearable devices, drones, and other daily appliances with lightweight needs (such as handheld vacuum cleaners, self-balancing vehicles, etc.).

Figure 5 Future Charger Development Trend Source: Charging Head Network

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