Power Electronics Japan Forum 2010: From silicon to SiC and GaN

LYON, FRANCE: Yole Développement and its Japanese partner, Global Information, are presentin the Power Electronics Japan Forum. This two-day seminar will take place at Four Seasons Hotel, Tokyo, Japan and will gather the most important Power Electronics experts.

Venue and date: June 1&2, 2010 - Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo Chinzan-so, Tokyo, Japan

Through conferences, exhibition and networking, feel free to register you online on the website: http://www.the-infoshop.com/conference/power-electronics-japan10/

Power electronics are currently facing a huge transition as the demand for efficient power conver-sion systems is increasing along with the “Green-Tech” introduction.

The green revolution is now impacting all application fields in power electronics pushed by regulations: from low power with the need for improved cell-phone battery chargers; to mid-range where motor control, home ap-pliances, PV inverters, EV/HEV and white goods may consume less energy; to higher power in which train traction, wind turbines and energy T&D are expecting new solutions to reduce conversion losses.

This battle for an efficient world starts at the heart of every system: the power devices. These devic-es today are mainly based on silicon technology. Silicon diodes and silicon transistors (MOSFET, IGBT, Thyristors…) are the key components and are constantly improving their performance, reliability, life-time and efficiency. However, year-to-year improvements are slowing as they approach maxi-mum theoretical specs.

New materials have emerged in recent years and some may be able to displace existing silicon de-vices with enhanced characteristics, less loss, higher operation temperature, longer life-time and greater robustness to cycles. SiC was the first technology commercially introduced in the early 2000’s and GaN is now coming to market as well.

This two-day seminar will begin with a review the main market metrics from devices to applications and current state of the art of the Silicon-based power electronics. It will then explore the capabili-ties of GaN and SiC to disrupt that equilibrium and will highlight the recent developments in a selec-tion of applications.