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Gaining Ground
GaN finds a niche in India’s semiconductor plans

A
fter years of dependence on Taiwan, mover advantage. Billions of dollars and de- throughput communications.
China and the US for chip manufac- cades of research have gone into the devel- z Aerospace and defence: GaN is suitable
turing and design, India is now real- opment of the silicon ecosystem. An entire for aerospace and defence applications
ising its aspirations for domestic semicon- array of fabs, design tools and skilled work- that have weight and space constraints,
ductor manufacturing. For the longest time, force is readily available. All this makes pro- such as military radars, electronic war-
the country had only one operational semi- duction cost effective. GaN wafers, in com- fare and avionics. Military and automo-
conductor wafer fab, the Semi-Conductor parison, are expensive to produce at scale. tive radar systems benefit from GaN’s
Laboratory in Mohali, Punjab, primarily high-frequency performance and power
serving the research and defence sectors. Why GaN matters: Relevant applications in density.
In recent years, six manufacturing facilities India
have been approved under the India Semi- GaN is ideal for high-power, high-perfor- Key challenges, initiatives and future outlook
conductor Mission, and several more are in mance digital, clean energy and defence ap- Given China’s control over the GaN supply
the pipeline. The prime minister’s wooing of plications that are strategic to India’s future. chain, a major challenge for India is seeking
global tech companies to set up fabrication These include: alternative supply chains. China has poured
units in collaboration with Indian partners z MmWave communication (5G and 6G): substantial funds into GaN-related research
underscores the government’s commitment GaN amplifiers handle higher frequen- and development, and has also restricted
to domestic semiconductor manufacturing. cies and deliver signals farther and fast- access to rare critical minerals for the rest
When we think semiconductors, we er as compared to silicon, critical for of the world. Besides, unlike silicon, the
think silicon. But that is slowly changing. realising the Bharat 6G Vision. They technical expertise required to design and
A trend that is slowly gaining traction is are compact and stay cooler even when produce GaN wafers is still evolving, and
the use of gallium nitride (GaN). What is working superfast. the cost of GaN wafer production remains
it about this material that is making semi- z EV charging: GaN can support India’s high, thereby limiting scalability.
conductor companies gravitate towards it? ambitious electric vehicle (EV) adop- The government is taking steps to change
A look at the benefits and applications of tion plans by enabling faster, smaller and this. In April 2025, Polymatech Electronics
GaN, manufacturing and design challenges, more energy-efficient chargers. Global- Limited laid the foundation stone for India’s
and where it fits in India’s semiconductor ly, Tesla, BMW and Lucid Motors are first GaN-based semiconductor fabrication
plans… exploring GaN for EV chargers and ICs. unit in Nava Raipur, Chhattisgarh. With an
z Data centres: With the rising energy investment of Rs 11.43 billion, the facility
GaN vs silicon demands of artificial intelligence work- aims to produce high-frequency GaN chips
GaN is superior to silicon in terms of effi- loads, data centre operators are increas- for 5G and 6G applications. Commercial
ciency, power density, switching speed and ingly opting for GaN-based DC-DC production is expected to commence by
heat tolerance. It has a wider bandgap of converters, which offer power supply April-May 2026. Apart from this, AGNIT
3.4 eV compared to silicon at 1.1 eV, mak- efficiencies of over 94 per cent. GaN Semiconductors, India’s first vertically inte-
ing it ideal for high power, high frequency field-effect transistors also reduce the grated GaN semiconductor start-up incu-
applications that demand higher stability. size of power supply units – a 12 kW bated at the Indian Institute of Science, is
Besides, it outperforms silicon in electron GaN-based power supply unit can match designing and manufacturing GaN wafers
mobility and voltage breakdown. the size of a 3.3 kW silicon unit – leading and electronic components, primarily for
Yet, GaN has not replaced silicon, and to energy and space savings. radio-frequency applications.
for a good reason. GaN is like gourmet cui- z Satcom: GaN is a more reliable alter- Net, net, GaN is not here to replace
sine – superior in quality and presentation native to silicon in satellite communi- silicon; it will instead create its own niche,
but expensive and niche. Silicon, on the cation. It is more tolerant to radiation complementing the latter in high-perfor-
other hand, is like staple diet – practical, af- and voltage variations in satellite sys- mance segments. As India expands its sili-
fordable and widely available. tems, making it ideal for low Earth orbit con-based chip manufacturing base, build-
Silicon is still the mainstay for everyday and geostationary Earth orbit commu- ing parallel capacity in GaN will give the
applications such as general purpose inte- nication satellites. These perform well country a competitive edge in emerging
grated circuits (ICs) and central processing in the Ka (27-31 GHz), Q (37.5-42.5 tech sectors. s
units. It is a mature technology with a first GHz) and W bands, supporting high Sugandha Khurana

2 tele.net | June 2025