1. Purpose and scope
A power semiconductor is never specified in isolation. Its ratings, losses and ruggedness only make sense in the converter it will sit in: a traction inverter for an electric vehicle, an onboard charger, a DC to DC stage in an 800-volt vehicle architecture, an industrial motor drive, a solar or storage inverter, or a power supply in a data centre. The purpose of this stage is to translate those applications into device requirements that design, process, packaging and qualification can build to, and to agree them with the business and the lead customers before significant engineering money is spent.
The stage also settles the first and largest technical choice: whether the product will be a silicon IGBT or MOSFET, a silicon carbide MOSFET or diode, or a gallium nitride transistor. Each material brings a different cost structure, supply chain, process, set of reliability risks and set of customers. The choice is argued from the application rather than from enthusiasm for a technology, because the best device for a high-current traction inverter is rarely the best device for a compact charger or a server power supply.
In scope: the application landscape study, the converter topology study, the mission profile, the application requirements specification, the product requirements, the target datasheet, the business case and the first quality and compliance planning. Out of scope: the substrate and epitaxy specification and supply, which belong to Substrate & Epitaxy Supply, and the device design itself, which belongs to Device Design & Simulation.
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