Infineon Technologies AG sets milestones after milestones with its silicon power wafers. A few months ago, the company announced a 300-mm Gallium Nitride wafer, which is the most advanced in the power electronics industry. Now, Infineon continues breaking new ground with a silicon-based power wafer, which is the thinnest ever produced. With a diameter of 300 mm and a staggering thickness of only 20 micrometers, these power wafers are twice as thin as the slimmest wafers produced to date and almost as thin as household-type aluminum foil.
But other than the obvious packaging advantages, is there any other benefit to thinner power wafers? Absolutely! Cutting the substrate lowers resistance, resulting in less power loss and huge efficiency gains. This quality of ultra-thin wafers will prove crucial in the latest AI data centers, where lowering the voltage from 230 V to 1.8 V is necessary. Infineon’s ultra-thin wafers can greatly improve the overall efficiency of the data centers, and potentially improve performance as well. Infineon projects a reduced power loss by 15% in power systems, and reduced substrate resistance by 50%.
Of course, producing a thinner wafer has its challenges, mainly in terms of structural integrity. Infineon’s engineers solved that with a unique wafer grinding solution, along with advanced wafer bow and wafer separation manufacturing techniques. Crucially, Infineon says that the 20-micrometer thin wafer can be seamlessly integrated into existing high-volume Si production lines, ensuring high yields, supply security, and low cost.
Infineon’s latest power electronics innovation isn’t just a concept – it has already been applied to the firm’s DC-DC converters called Integrated Smart Power Stages, and delivered to customers. Not only that, but the company projects its ultra-thin wafers will replace existing wafers in the next three to four years. The public can see the 20-micrometer ultra-thin silicon wafer publicly at electronica 2024 from 12 to 15 November in Munich (Hall C3, Stand 502).
