Nexperia and Aurobay Technologies are exploring a collaboration to develop advanced power semiconductor solutions for electrified and hybrid vehicle powertrains.
The companies plan to evaluate how gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) technologies can be integrated with powertrain system design to improve efficiency, power density, and packaging in future automotive applications.
The work will include power-electronics architectures for traction inverters and power-generation systems. The companies also plan to evaluate early-stage co-design and system-level optimization approaches that bring semiconductor and powertrain development closer together.
The collaboration builds on the use of Nexperia GaN devices in an Aurobay power-generation system for range-extender applications. According to the companies, that project demonstrated potential reductions in system size and weight while improving power-conversion efficiency.
For electric-drive applications, the next phase will examine how wide-bandgap semiconductors can be applied to traction inverters, which control power flow between the battery and electric motor. GaN and SiC devices can enable higher switching frequencies and greater power density than conventional silicon devices, creating opportunities for more compact power-electronics systems.
The companies said the collaboration will focus on developing scalable power semiconductor and propulsion-system architectures for future electrified vehicles.
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