The unsung heroes powering the EV and AI revolution

In the shadow of headline-grabbing AI chips and advanced memory technologies, a quiet revolution is taking place in power semiconductors. These critical components, particularly wide bandgap technologies like Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN), are fundamentally transforming electric vehicles and data centers, yet rarely receive the recognition they deserve.

The Physics Advantage

Wide bandgap semiconductors offer fundamental advantages over traditional silicon power devices that simply cannot be matched by conventional technology. The physics of these materials enables transformative capabilities rather than incremental improvements.

SiC and GaN provide higher breakdown voltage capabilities, allowing devices to handle greater electrical stress without failure. Their lower switching losses significantly improve efficiency, directly translating to energy savings in end applications. Better thermal conductivity enables simpler cooling solutions, while higher frequency operation permits smaller passive components. As a result, these technologies deliver smaller form factors for equivalent power handling. These material properties translate directly into real-world benefits across multiple applications.

The EV Catalyst

The electric vehicle industry has become the primary driver of wide bandgap semiconductor adoption, creating a virtuous cycle of investment, innovation, and cost reduction. Between 2021 and 2023, the EV market experienced explosive growth, pushing manufacturers to rapidly scale production of SiC devices due to range and fast charging benefits they can bring.

When the EV market hit a temporary plateau in late 2023, it hit the industry hard, but an unexpected benefit emerged. The breathing room allowed the supply chain to mature, with improved yields, reduced costs, and development of next-generation designs. As the market returns to growth trajectory in the second half of 2025, SiC adoption is accelerating in inverters, on-board chargers, and DC-DC converters. On-board chargers are adopting GaN to reduce size and weight while improving charging efficiency.

The AI Power Crisis

While EVs drove initial adoption, AI data centers are now creating unprecedented demands for power semiconductor innovation. The latest AI accelerators consume enormous amounts of power, creating delivery challenges that conventional silicon devices struggle to address. The aforementioned power supplies are certain to use high voltage SiC and GaN to keep pace. With demands, each generation of AI processors requires more current, which also makes the "last inch" power delivery from voltage regulator to processor one of the industry's biggest challenges. GaN technology is proving particularly valuable in this space due to its ability to switch efficiently at high frequencies, allowing for smaller passive components and higher power density, critical in space-constrained server environments.

The economics are compelling despite higher component costs. Improvements in power efficiency across hyperscale data centers translate to significant electricity savings over a facility's lifetime, along with reduced cooling requirements and increased compute density. These benefits make wide bandgap technologies increasingly attractive for AI infrastructure, despite their premium pricing compared to traditional silicon solutions.

Wide bandgap devices underpin Nvidia’s view of the future of the data centers. Their vision includes high voltage DC bus within the data center, with down conversion to an intermediate 48 V in a “sidecar” next to the servers. When laying this vision out they name checked both power semiconductor power houses and wide bandgap specialist as being key to delivery.

The Future Horizon

As SiC and GaN technologies mature and costs decrease through volume production and yield improvements, adoption will accelerate across additional applications. Industrial motor drives will benefit from higher efficiency and reduced cooling requirements. Renewable energy inverters will achieve higher power density and efficiency, reducing the cost of solar and wind power generation. EV chargers will become smaller and more powerful.

The wide bandgap revolution represents a fundamental shift in power electronics, not merely an incremental improvement but a step-change in capability. While these technologies may never capture public imagination like the latest AI chip, their impact on our electrified future may ultimately prove more profound. For industry participants, the power semiconductor space has transformed from a slow-moving backwater to a dynamic battleground for competitive advantage in next-generation electric vehicles, data centers, and beyond.