News: Microelectronics
9 May 2022
Navitas ships 50 millionth GaN IC
GaN power integrated circuit firm Navitas Semiconductor of El Segundo, CA, USA and Dublin, Ireland (which was founded in 2014) has announced what it says is an industry-first achievement of 50 million units shipped – with zero reported GaN-related field failures. To celebrate, a Navitas GaN wafer was presented to customer vivo.
GaN runs 20x faster than traditional silicon and enables up to 3x the power or 3x faster charging with up to 40% energy savings in just half the size and weight. Navitas’ GaNFast power ICs integrate GaN power and drive plus sensing, protection and control circuits to deliver simple, small, fast and efficient power conversion performance for mobile, consumer, enterprise, eMobility and new energy markets. Over 145 Navitas patents are issued or pending.
In January and April, vivo and Navitas aligned their visions for fast and ultra-fast charging with new products launched in mass production, all adopting Navitas’ GaNFast with GaNSense next-generation GaN power ICs. As an early-adopter of GaNSense technology, vivo first launched a 120W in-box ultra-fast charger, shipped with one of the firm’s latest flagship phone model, enabling 0-100% charging speed in only 19 minutes. Then, a dual-USB-C, 80W GaN charger shipped with vivo’s first 8”-screen foldable phone, supporting simultaneous fast charging of two devices at a weight of just 122g. With a power density of 1W/cc, charging from 0-50% takes only 17 minutes.
“The cooperation with Navitas kicks off a new era for vivo and its historical upgrade of mobile-phone charging speed,” says vivo’s senior VP & chief technology officer Yujian Shi. “Users can experience ultra-fast, ultra-portable charging on our new flagship phones thanks to Navitas’ GaNFast power ICs.”
Since full qualification in 2018, Navitas claims to be industry leader in fast and ultra-fast chargers for consumer mobile applications. Recent announcements on high-power IC availability and dedicated design centers for data-center and EV applications indicate the firm’s expansion beyond chargers, into high-reliability systems – backed by an industry-first, 20-year limited warranty.
“vivo is a pioneer in fast charging and we are very happy to present the 50M award to vivo for their partnership and vision,” comments Navitas’ co-founder & CEO Gene Sheridan. “The same pioneering spirit can be seen from customers in our high-power expansion markets including data-center, solar and EV applications. With over 50 million units shipped, each saving 4kg of CO2, the faster customers can adopt GaN, the better it will be for our environment. GaN could save up to 2.6Gtons CO2 per year by 2050.”
Navitas GaN IC drives vivo’s first 8”-screen foldable smartphone
