Wide Bandgap power devices and applications; the U.S. initiative

The U.S. offers multiple mechanisms for funding both small and large businesses to promote innovations in science and industry. However, dating back to the 80s many U.S. companies have chosen to take products created domestically and manufacture them overseas. This has been a particularly disturbing trend in the semiconductor business leading to the loss of jobs and technical expertise as students, educated in the U.S., leave for opportunities elsewhere. Efforts to reverse this tendency are being aggressively undertaken through new initiatives funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO). Details of some of these activities, in regards to Wide Bandgap (WBG) semiconductor devices and their applications, are discussed in this paper.