Technology, industry and market trends in WBG power module packaging

Emergence of new wide bandgap (WBG) technologies such as SiC and GaN will definitely reshape part of the established power electronics industry, especially on the high and very high voltage side (>1.7kV) SiC and GaN offer higher frequency switching, higher power density, higher junction T° and higher voltage capabilities. To now, the incumbent packaging solution does not fit SiC/GaN specifications. In particular, only a tiny part of the WBG added-value could be captured by using current approaches. Some companies offer a new enhanced package strategy that can help addressing the demand for improved performance, in line with SiC and GaN specifications At midterm, these new power modules could expect targeting a ~$200M market in 2016, exceeding $1B at longer term (2020+).