Growth and Advancements in Gallium Nitride (GaN) Semiconductor Devices: A Market Analysis

Gallium nitride semiconductor device market size is projected to reach USD 24.9 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 5.2% during the forecast period. It was observed that the growth rate was 6.0% from 2021 to 2022.

Massive demand from the RF semiconductor device industry is a major factor driving the GaN semiconductor device market. The RF sector is closely related to the communications sector and requires electronic devices to operate at a wide spectrum of communication frequency ranges, based on the application.Owing to their ability to deliver high power amplification at very high frequency ranges, GaN semiconductor devices penetrated the RF power semiconductor device market. The development of GaN monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) has further accelerated to adoption of GaN RF applications.

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Opportunity: Applications in electric and hybrid electric vehicles

The development of electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) offer lucrative growth opportunities for the GaN semiconductor device market. Both GaN power semiconductor devices and opto-semiconductor devices have vast growth opportunities in the power and optoelectronic systems used in this application segment, aided by the rapid growth of the EV and HEVs market.Electronic systems in EVs and HEVs are expected to create a surge in demand for GaN semiconductor devices, particularly in the categories of control systems, motor drives, braking systems, and lighting and displays. DC-DC converters, electric motors, and inverters in various automobile body parts such as battery systems, mechanical systems, and cooling systems are among the recently developed GaN power semiconductor devices that are being incorporated in EVs and HEVs.

Challenge:Complexities associated with designing electrical layout of GaN devices

Designing GaN power and RF devices involves various complexities such as charge trapping and current collapse. The major challenge for designers is to achieve higher efficiency while keeping the cost low and the structure less complex. The varying requirements of different applications further increase the design complexities of the power and RF devices. The growing demand for GaN devices with different packages and characteristics has led to an increase in the number of distinct circuit designs and the thermal challenges with these designs. Also, the smaller size of GaN devices as compared to Silicon devices makes it important to minimize the errors associated with electron mobility, the conductance of current, and power output.The reliability requirements of various GaN power devices are becoming more challenging for various applications, such as automotive and aerospace, and defense applications. To alleviate such issues, power devices would require more and even new reliability testing methods.