Silicon, GaN and SiC: There's room for all: An application space overview of device considerations

The discrete power device marketplace is estimated between 15 and 22 billion dollars and is comprised primarily of transistors and diodes in a variety of voltage, current, packaging and power ratings. It is an area of intense focus as new technologies such as wide bandgap emerge and new applications such as electric vehicles emerge. Decision makers from Engineers to CEO's are faced with the same decisions they have always faced, comparing power, efficiency and size, yet the decisions are more difficult given the fast-moving pace of these emerging technologies. In this paper, several application spaces ranging from consumer to vehicle to motors will be reviewed, comparing the most critical aspects of the applications against semiconductor choices these decision makes have available. Considerations of the appropriate technologies will be reviewed comparing where the technologies have been, are today, and where they will be in the next 5 years.