News: Microelectronics
15 May 2023
Orbray and MIRISE collaborating on vertical diamond power devices for EVs
Tokyo-based Orbray Co Ltd (which makes precision jewel parts, DC coreless motors, fiber-optic components, and medical devices) and automotive semiconductor research company MIRISE Technologies Corp of Minamiyama, Aichi Prefecture, Japan (a joint venture founded in April 2020 by DENSO and Toyota) have begun collaborating on vertical diamond power devices.
Over the three-year period of the project, Orbray and MIRISE aim to use their respective technologies, resources and expertise in diamond substrates and power devices to develop the technologies needed to deploy vertical diamond power devices in a wide range of electric vehicles in the future.
In the research collaboration, Orbray will be responsible for developing a p-type conductive diamond substrate, while MIRISE will take charge of developing a high-voltage-operating device structure to demonstrate the feasibility of a vertical diamond power device. At the end of the project, the firms plan to discuss the next stage of collaboration, such as further R&D.
Compared with existing mainstream semiconductor materials such as silicon, silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN), diamond is considered to be the ultimate semiconductor material because it has higher-voltage operating capability and superior thermal conductivity (heat dissipation). In the future, the development and mass production of next-generation automotive semiconductors using diamond is expected to improve the fuel efficiency and power consumption of electric vehicles, and to reduce battery costs.
