WiPDA

The 9th Annual IEEE / PSMA Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices and Applications (WiPDA) is brought to you by the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS), the Power Supply Manufacturer's Association (PSMA), and the IEEE Electron Devices Society (EDS) and provides engineers and scientists with opportunities to share their expertise in wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor technology.

The workshop is returning to an in-person event from November 7 – 9, 2022 at the Sonesta Redondo Beach and Marina in Redondo Beach, California.

WiPDA provides a unique forum for device scientists, circuit designers, & application engineers from the Power Electronics & Electron Devices Societies to share technology updates, research findings, experience & potential applications. The workshop covers multiple tracks including silicon carbide (SiC) power devices, SiC applications, gallium nitride (GaN) power devices, GaN applications, Gallium Nitride (GaN) RF devices and applications and International Technology Roadmap for Wide Bandgap Power Semiconductors) (ITRW).  Topics in emerging WBG materials are also of interest.

WiPDA 2022 will feature papers within the following areas of interest:

• Heteroepitaxial & Bulk Materials Growth
• Gate Dielectrics & Surface Passivation
• Device Structures & Fabrication Techniques
• Device Characterization & Modeling
• Very-High Efficiency Or Compact Converters
• Safe Operating Areas Of Wide Bandgap Devices, including Short Circuit, Spike, &Transient Tolerance
• Harsh Environment (High Temperature) Operation & Reliability
• Packaging Power Modules & ICs
• Gate Drive & Other Auxiliary Circuits
• High-Performance Passive Components
• Hard-Switched & Soft-Switched Application Analysis
• Applications in Renewable Energy & Energy Storage, Transportation, Industrial Drives, Grid Power Systems, Space and Aerospace
• Wide Bandgap System Design Philosophies & Strategies
• Radio Frequency (RF) GaN
• Technology Roadmap of Wide Bandgap Including Devices, Applications and Packaging

Participation Opportunities:

• Tutorials: Will be offered on November 7th by experts in the field of WBG device, applications, and systems.
• Keynote Sessions: Held on November 8th and November 9th bring together leading experts and executives to provide their visions of WBG opportunities
• Panel Discussions: Leading experts on GaN and SiC will examine key technology and market topics during the panel discussions.
• Exhibitions and Sponsors: Exhibitor and corporate sponsorship opportunities are available. Contact exhibitsatwipdaus@gmail.com for more information.

The General Chair, Andrea Gorgerino, Director of Global FAEs at Efficient Power Conversion, and the organizing committee are excited to provide our sponsors and valued audience members with an opportunity to share the latest in device and applications of WBG technology.  We look forward to seeing everyone in person in Redondo Beach!

Please subscribe to stay informed of the latest news and receive deadline reminders for WiPDA 2022. For sponsorship opportunities contact exhibitsatwipdaus@gmail.com. Also, join the conversation with the WiPDA group on LinkedIn.

Provided by

Renee Yawger
WiPDA 2022 Publicity Chair

espite the continuing challenging environment, the organizing committee for the 8th Annual IEEE / PMSA Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices and Applications (WiPDA) hosted a virtual conference from November 7 – 11, 2021.

The workshop provided engineers and scientists with opportunities to share their expertise in wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor technology. The conference kicked off on Sunday, November 7th with two tutorial tracks covering Silicon Carbide (SiC) power devices and Gallium Nitride (GaN) power devices. The weekday proceedings began each day with two keynote sessions featuring industry leaders discussing the latest developments in wide bandgap technology and applications including speakers from Navitas Semiconductor, GaN Systems, Wolfspeed, Efficient Power Conversion (EPC), Infineon Technologies, Transphorm Inc, University of Toronto, and Teledyne Scientific & Imaging. Daily proceedings featured technical sessions, panel discussions, and poster sessions. These sessions covered four technical tracks: Silicon Carbide (SiC) power devices, SiC applications, Gallium Nitride (GaN) power devices, GaN applications, and new this year, Gallium Nitride (GaN) RF devices and applications and International Technology Roadmap for Wide Bandgap Power Semiconductors) (ITRW) sessions.

The workshop was brought to you by the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS), the Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA), and the IEEE Electron Devices Society (EDS).  The General Chair was Sameh Khalil, Senior Principal Engineer, GaN Device Reliability and Product Engineering Management at Infineon Technologies.  He was supported by Vice Chair Helen Li, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, FAMU-FSU college of Engineering
 
The committee is deeply appreciative of our sponsors and valued audience members to have a successful conference and to enjoy the opportunity to share the latest in device and applications of WBG technology during a continuing fluid situation.  Continue to stay safe and well and we look forward to seeing everyone in person next year in Redondo Beach!

Please subscribe to stay informed of the latest news and receive deadline reminders for WiPDA 2022. Also, join the conversation with the WiPDA group on LinkedIn.

Stay safe!

Provided by Provided by Renee Yawger WiPDA 2021 Publicity Chair

The 7th Annual IEEE / PSMA Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices and Applications (WiPDA 2019) took place in Raleigh, North Carolina during October 29-31, 2019.  It was held on the campus of North Carolina State University (NCSU) at the Stateview Hotel.  The event featured one day of tutorials and two days of technical discussions. It also hosted meetings for the International Technology Roadmap on Wide Bandgap Semiconductors (ITRW) as well as JEDEC's JC-70 committee, which focuses on standardization of silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor devices. More than 200 individuals from around the world gathered in Raleigh this year to share their experiences and learn about the latest developments in this field. 

WiPDA 2019’s General Chair, Victor Veliadis, provides the welcoming address to over 200 attendees

Both the JC-70 committee and the ITRW working group met on the 29th.  According to Dr. Stephanie Watts Butler, chairperson for the JC-70 Committee:Tuesday, October 29th, began with the workshop's five tutorials focusing on the applications of wide bandgap (WBG) devices in solid state circuit breakers, data centers, electric vehicles, and medium voltage converters.  A separate presentation discussed the reliability of high voltage GaN devices.  Afterwards, attendees were able to tour NCSU's FREEDM Center Power Electronics Laboratory followed by the Opening Reception and the start of the exhibition.

JEDEC's JC-70 Wide Bandgap (WBG) power semiconductor standards committee celebrated its 2nd anniversary at WiPDA 2019.  The committee has grown to a membership of 60 companies spanning the globe consisting of power GaN and SiC semiconductor suppliers, users of WBG power semiconductors and [test and measurement (T&M)] equipment manufacturers.  

The JC-70 committee met at WiPDA to discuss current status on standards for reliability, testing, and datasheet parametrics.     In addition to making progress on crafting documents for these topic areas, the JEDEC committee has also been engaging with standards bodies around the world, such as IEC and JEITA.  This engagement demonstrates further growth in the importance and acceptance of SiC and GaN worldwide, and the user community's desire to see consistency in standards worldwide.

The technical dialogues started Wednesday morning with two keynote speeches from Peter Friedrichs of Infineon Technologies and Kevin Anderson of IHS Markit.  Friedrichs highlighted the need for optimized magnetics to improve the performance of SiC applications while Anderson talked about packaging as a bottleneck for WBG devices in traction based and wind applications.  It was also pointed out that 600 V to 1000 V applications are the emerging battleground for GaN, SiC, and silicon (Si) superjunction power devices.

A panel session was dedicated to the adoption of GaN devices and a second to SiC applications.  Reliability was a concern again this year with discussions on the need for vibration and radiation hardeness data.  However, it was mentioned that the application and testing times for both GaN and SiC are yielding much more reliable failure-in-time (FIT) data.

Tim McDonald opens WiPDA 2019’s panel sessions along with fellow panelists Alain Charles, Sandeep Bahl, Peter Di Maso, and Robert Kaplar

The Wednesday afternoon session included three more keynote speeches from Laszlo Balogh of Texas Instruments, Sandeep Bala of ABB, and Thomas Harder of the European Center for Power Electronics.  This was followed by the first of four rounds of technical sessions, and the poster session.  The evening closed with the conference banquet where Cree co-founder John Edmond and his band provided the entertainment for the event.A strongly emphasized point at WiPDA 2019 was the need to consider system level costs.  While WBG devices, SiC in particular, are not expected to gain cost parity with Si components in the next couple of years, companies are seeing significant reductions in the corresponding costs of other areas of power electronic systems. For example, John Deere has realized meaningful reductions in DC link capacitor sizes through the application of SiC components in high power motor drives.

Attendees and presenters gather for WiPDA 2019’s poster session

A total of 99 digests were submitted to this year's event.  Forty-eight of them were accepted to one of the 12 technical tracks for oral presentations.  These included four tracks dedicated to SiC Applications, two to GaN Applications, three to SiC Devices, two to GaN Devices and one track to Thermal and Emerging technologies.  A total of 32 papers were presented at the poster session.Thursday morning started with another round of keynote speeches from John Palmour of Wolfspeed, Iqbal Husain from NCSU, and Yuhao Zhang from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.  During the first two talks, the need for improvements in packaging, gate drive technology, and magnetics was reiterated along with the focus on system level costs.  The third presentation discussed many new developments in vertical GaN technology, their potential impact on power electronics, and prospects for future commercialization.  Afterwards, the remaining three technical sessions took place.

John Edmond, co-founder of Cree, and his band provide the entertainment at WiPDA 2019’s banquet

The workshop wants to acknowledge: our Silver Sponsor, PowerAmerica; the Poster Session Sponsor, JEDEC; Kyma Tehnologies, the Lunch Sponsor; Focused Test Inc, the Coffee Break Sponsor; and the Media Partner, How2Power.com. The Technical Sponsors for WiPDA 2019 were the IEEE Power Electronic Society (PELS), the IEEE Electron Devices Society (EDS), and the Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA). The workshop would not have been possible without their commitment, nor that of the nine exhibitors, the Organizing Committee, and the Technical Program Committee as well as the paper reviewers and the student volunteers. WiPDA 2019 is very grateful to its many financial sponsors, exhibitors, and its group of dedicated volunteers.  The workshop enjoys continued support from our two Platinum Sponsors, Infineon and Wolfspeed.  Their sustained endorsements have established WiPDA as a premier event for the WBG community.  WiPDA is also happy to welcome Applied Materials as its third Platinum Sponsor for the 2019 event.

Next fall, WiPDA 2020 heads to Los Angeles, CA, where Infineon Technologies will host the event.  Until then, have a happy holiday season and great New Year!

Provided by Mark Scott, WiPDA 2019 Publicity Chair

Preparations for the 7th Annual IEEE / PSMA Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices and Applications (WiPDA ) are well underway.  This year's event will be held at the Marriott Stateview Hotel, which is located on North Carolina State University's campus in Raleigh, North Carolina.  From October 29 to 31, the workshop will offer one day of tutorials and two days of technical presentations that include plenary speakers, panel discussions, 12 technical tracks consisting of 48 oral presentations, and a poster session.

There will be five 80-minute tutorials on October 29, 2019. Two happen during the morning session after breakfast; one covers the design of silicon carbide (SiC) circuit breakers and the other discusses using simulation while designing power modules and its impact on development time in the laboratory.  Three sessions will take place after lunch.  The first presents SiC and gallium nitride (GaN) based Switched-Tank Converters for data centers and electric vehicles.  The second tutorial describes best practices for using voltage acceleration to determine the reliability of GaN devices.  The final presentation covers the application of 10 kV to 15 kV SiC power devices in soft and hard-switching medium voltage converters.  More information about the tutorials is available on the workshop's website (https://wipda.org/tutorials/).

The Welcome Reception follows the tutorials. It will be a casual evening with drinks and hors d'oeuvres open to all the WiPDA attendees.

The workshop formally begins on October 30, 2019 with two plenary presentations in the morning.  These are followed by two panel sessions: "GaN Power Device Market Adoption – What is the Status and What are the Barriers and Accelerators to Market Penetration," and "Challenges and Opportunities for SiC in High Power Applications."

After a lunch break, three more plenary presentations take place.  Subsequently, the day's technical sessions begin. Each session comprises three parallel tracks, with each track consisting of four presentations. The topics are SiC applications, GaN devices, and SiC devices.  The evening wraps up with the poster session, which is supported by JEDEC, and the workshop's banquet that is supported by Wolfspeed.

The last day of the event, October 31, 2019, begins with the final three plenary presentations.  Then there will be three more technical sessions covering nine tracks.  Three focus on SiC applications, two on GaN applications, two on SiC devices, one on GaN devices, and a special track on emerging technologies.

Sponsors and Exhibitions:

This year's workshop is made possible thanks to our three Platinum Sponsors: Applied Materials, Infineon Technologies, and Wolfspeed.  Additional support is provided by the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS), the Power Supply Manufacturer's Association (PSMA), the IEEE Electron Devices Society (EDS), and PowerAmerica.  The workshop is also happy to host eight exhibitors along with our sponsors.  The exhibition runs during the conference.
There are still opportunities for companies to participate in the workshop.  Exhibition booths are available for showcasing products and networking with potential clients and customers.  Sponsorship opportunities are still available for businesses that want to be affiliated with the event.  More information is on the workshop's website at: http://wipda.org/exhibition-sponsorships/.  E-mail inquiries to exhibitsatwipda2019@gmail.com.

Registration:

Attendees can register at the workshop's website (https://wipda.org/registration/).  The advanced registration period ends September 20, 2019.  Afterwards, regular rates apply.  A block of rooms is set aside for attendees at a preferred rate of $159 per night plus taxes and local fees.  More information is available at https://wipda.org/venue/.

For additional questions about the workshop, please contact wipda2019@gmail.com.  We look forward to seeing you in Raleigh at WiPDA 2019 this October.

Provided by Mark Scott, WiPDA 2019 Publicity Chair

Over two hundred people from around the world participated in the 2018 IEEE / PSMA Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices and Applications (WiPDA 2018).  This year's event was held from October 31 to November 2 on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia.  The highlights included: seven tutorials; a meeting of JEDEC's newest committee, JC-70; a workshop for the International Technology Roadmap on Wide Bandgap Semiconductors (ITRW); and two days of technical discussions.

A major theme of WiPDA 2018 was the reliability of silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) power devices.  One tutorial and a keynotes address focused exclusively on this topic. Many others presenters also included it amongst their talks.  Both panel sessions addressed this issue; one covering SiC components and the other GaN devices.  Additionally, two technical sessions explored reliability as well as some of the poster presentations.

The reliability theme also included participation from JEDEC.  According to Dr. Stephanie Watts Butler, chairperson for the JC-70 Committee:

JEDEC's JC-70 Wide Bandgap (WBG) power semiconductor standards committee celebrated its first anniversary at WiPDA 2018.   The committee has more than doubled in size since its inaugural meeting at WiPDA 2017 with more than 50 member companies including industry leaders in power GaN and SiC semiconductors as well as prospective users of WBG power semiconductors and T&M equipment manufacturers.   Global multinational corporations and technology startups from the US, Europe, and Asia are working together to bring to the industry WBG standards for reliability, testing, and datasheet parametrics.   Guidelines for testing power GaN devices has completed the first major milestone toward becoming a JEDEC publication, and has begun the next step toward being issued by JEDEC.

The ITRW workshop focused on implementing SiC devices in power electronics.  Dr. Victor Veliadis provided an overview of large volume SiC applications.  The utilization of SiC power devices in China's electrical grid was discussed by Dr. Chaobo Dai.  Dr. Kamiar Karimi talked about the benefits of SiC devices for aircraft.  A presentation on using SiC MOSFETs in the Japanese railway system was also given by Dr. Takeshi Oi.

Kijeong Han of North Carolina State University delivers his talk on short circuit failure mechanisms during the SiC Device Fabrication

Workshop attendees listen to a presentation during the technical sessions

The 2018 tutorials covered semiconductor technology for GaN, SiC, and ultra-wide bandgap devices.  It included material that focused on fabrication as well as application of these components. Eight keynote speakers and two panel sessions were held with equal emphasis on emerging developments in GaN and SiC.  A total of 44 papers were presented across 11 technical sessions.  Additionally, 11 poster presentations occurred during the evening reception.

The success of WiPDA 2018 was due to the financial support of its sponsors and the dedication of many volunteers.  We would like thank our two Platinum Sponsors, Infineon and Wolfspeed, for their generous contributions towards making such a strong program.  We would also like to acknowledge our Gold Sponsors, Silvaco and Semiprobe; our Tutorial Sponsor, PowerAmerica; our Silver Sponsor, InnoCit; our Media Partner, How2Power.com; and the seven exhibitors that showcased alongside our sponsors.  Furthermore, the workshop would not be possible without the commitment of its Technical Sponsors, Organizing Committee, and Technical Program Committee as well as the paper reviewers and the student volunteers.

Next fall, WiPDA 2019 heads to Raleigh, NC where North Carolina State University and PowerAmerica will host the Workshop.  Until then, have a happy holiday season and safe new year.

he 5th IEEE Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices and Applications (WiPDA, www.wipda.org), sponsored by IEEE and PSMA, was successfully held from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, 2017, at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort near Albuquerque, NM.

WIPDA is a fast-growing annual event which provides a forum for device scientists, circuit designers, and application engineers to share technology updates, research findings, development experience, and application knowledge. 
As in past years, WiPDA covered a wide range of topics related to wide-bandgap power electronics, including but not limited to:

1. Heteroepitaxial and bulk materials growth
2. Gate dielectrics and surface passivation
3. Device structures and fabrication techniques
4. Device characterization and modeling
5. Very high efficiency and compact converters
6. SOAs including short-circuit, spike, and transient tolerance
7. Harsh environment (e.g. high temperature) operation and reliability
8. Packaging, power modules, and ICs
9. Hard-switched and soft-switched applications
10. Common-mode and EMI management
11. Gate drive and other auxiliary circuits
12. High-performance passive components
13. Applications in renewable energy and storage, transportation, industrial drives, and grid power systems

The number of WIPDA attendees has grown quickly over the last five years, with attendees coming from multiple disciplines including materials science, device fabrication, power circuits, and system applications. Over 200 attendees participated in the workshop this year, including representatives from industry, academia, government, and research institutions. Attendees came from the United States as well as numerous other countries. Nine industrial and institutional partners provided support to the conference.

WiPDA 2017 maintained the arrangement from previous years and included tutorials, keynote talks, panel discussions, oral technical sessions, a poster session and banquet, standards meetings, and an exhibition.
 

There were seven tutorials covering both device and application topics, from fundamental knowledge to the frontier research trends. The tutorial speakers were from both academic institutions (Purdue University, North Carolina State University, Virginia Tech, and University of Alabama) and industry (John Deere, Texas Instruments, and Infineon Technologies). The WIPDA 2017 keynote sessions featured eight distinguished speakers from ARPA-E, Navitas Semiconductor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, PowerAmerica, Ford, Infineon, and Texas Instruments, who shared their experiences and visions on SiC and GaN development and applications from different angles as the device manufacturer, the equipment designer, the researcher, and the system integrator. Additionally, two panel sessions focused on high-voltage SiC and high-frequency GaN, and included leading experts from US federal agencies, industry, and academia. The technical program consisted of 50 oral presentations and 21 posters, representing 10 countries. Each presentation or poster will be available on IEEE Xplore.

This year's poster session and banquet were held at the Cottonwoods Pavilion, located on the Tamaya grounds along the banks of the Rio Grande River. Further, IEEE's International Technology Roadmap for Wide Bandgap Semiconductors (ITRW) working group met at the workshop. Finally, an exhibition consisting of ten different companies and agencies paticipanted in WIPDA2017.

As in past years, WiPDA again provided student travel grants to encourage student participation in the conference and promote education in the area of wide-bandgap power electronics. 16 students received these awards, out of a total of 60 student participants, supported equally by PELS and PSMA.
 

WiPDA 2018 will be hosted by Georgia Tech in Atlanta, and is tentatively scheduled for November 5-7, 2018. Please check www.wipda.org for information and updates. We look forward to your participation at next year's exciting event!
 

Provided by Dr. Fang Luo, Publicity Chair WiPDA 2017