ForLab FutureLabPE
A project at the University of Paderborn
The Paderborn Microelectronics Research Laboratory for Reliability in Power Electronics is conducting application research into new semiconductors with a large band gap. These so-called wide-band-gap (WBG) semiconductors primarily include silicon carbide SiC and gallium nitride GaN.
The scientists working with Dr Frank Schafmeister from the Department of Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (LEA) at Paderborn University want to set up a laboratory environment from WBG circuit development to complete device endurance testing. In the ForLab FutureLabPE, they are working with colleagues from other universities and research institutes, such as the Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano Systems ENAS in Paderborn or the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology IISB in Erlangen, as well as with various partners from industry.
partners from industry.
Its aim is to identify, develop and optimise power electronic applications that particularly benefit from the new power semiconductor technologies, as well as to investigate their reliability. WBG semiconductors offer enormous potential here – many WBG-based application devices can be designed to be considerably more compact and with lower losses than conventional systems that use silicon semiconductors. The resulting higher degree of miniaturisation and increased energy efficiency at lower system costs is not only advantageous for many applications, but often also paves the way for the development of new performance classes and areas of application. Particularly promising fields of application are electromobility (on-board and off-board power converters), power supply devices for data centres and mobile networks (5G and beyond), renewable energy systems (generation, transmission, distribution), decentralised power supplies for medical applications (CT, MRI, ultrasound) and industrial automation (e.g. Industry 4.0).
Further information: