American chip supplier onsemi has introduced vertical GaN (vGaN) technology that sets a new benchmark for efficiency, power density, and ruggedness. Most importantly, the breakthrough power semiconductor technology complements energy demand surges in the age of AI and electrification.

Onsemi has developed and manufactured the chip architecture at its Syracuse fab in New York. The company holds over 130 global patents covering a range of fundamental process, device design, manufacturing and systems innovations for vertical GaN technology.

“The addition of vertical GaN to our power portfolio gives our customers the ultimate toolkit to deliver unmatched performance. With this breakthrough, onsemi is defining the future where energy efficiency and power density are the currency of competitiveness.”  Dinesh Ramanathan, Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy, onsemi.

Plays Critical Role

As electrification and Ai reshape industries, efficiency has become the new benchmark that defines the measure of progress. The company said vGaN is a game-changer for the industry in energy efficiency and innovation.

From electric vehicles and renewable energy to AI data centers that now consume more power than some cities, the demand for electricity is rising faster than our ability to generate and deliver it efficiently.

onsemi’s vGaN technology is designed to handle high voltages in a monolithic die – 1,200 volts and beyond – switching high currents at high frequency with superior efficiency. High end power systems built with this technology can reduce losses by almost 50% and by operating at higher frequencies can also reduce the size, including passives like capacitors and inductors by a similar amount.

Furthermore, compared with lateral GaN, vGaN devices are approximately three times smaller. Therefore, making it ideal for critical high-power applications where power density, thermal performance, and reliability are important.

Utilizes GaN-on-GaN

Essentially, most GaN devices are built on a substrate that is actually not GaN but primarily silicon or sapphire. For very high voltage devices, onsemi’s vGaN uses a GaN-on-GaN technology. This allows current to flow vertically through the chip rather than across its surface. Thus, the design delivers higher power density, greater thermal stability, and robust performance under extreme conditions.

Because of these traits, vGan surpasses both GaN-on-silicon and GaN-on-sapphire devices to deliver enhanced features.

31 October 2025