GlobalFoundries (GF) has signed an agreement with TSMC to license its 650 V and 80 V gallium nitride (GaN) technology.
The move comes as TSMC, the largest chipmaker and foundry, plans to exit the GaN semiconductor segment citing its low-margin, low-volume business was not in its strategic future.
For GF, the move will accelerate the foundry’s next generation of GaN products for applications like:
- Datacenters
- Industrial
- Automotive power
GF will qualify the licensed GaN technology at its facility in Burlington, Vermont, using its experience in high voltage GaN-on-silicon technology to accelerate volume production. GF set the development of this technology for early 2026 with production to begin later that year.
“With the addition of this proven GaN technology, we will accelerate the development of our next-generation GaN chips and deliver differentiated solutions that address critical power gaps for mission critical applications from the datacenter, to the car, and to the factory floor,” said Téa Williams, senior vice president, power business at GF.
GaN exit
With mounting price pressures from Chinese rivals, TSMC said it will phase out its GaN foundry services by July 2027.
Instead, it will focus on leading edge chip manufacturing for smartphones, data centers, media tablets, servers and more. The company simply does not make enough money from the GaN market for it to be worth it in the long run.
Shortly after the news that TSMC was planning to end its wafer foundry services for GaN by 2027, Infineon Technologies — a maker of silicon, silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride chips — said it will ramp up its efforts to scale up its GaN production on 300 mm wafers. It plans to have the first customer samples of these devices before the end of 2025.
Other companies have also started ramping up their GaN portfolios including
- Texas Instruments
- NXP Semiconductors
- United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC)
- Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (PSMC)
GF was already ramping up its production prior to its agreement with TSMC and this deal will further its strategic plan to expand its GaN services.
