Courtesy: Jay Nagle, Principal Product Marketing Engineer, Microchip Technology Inc.
Jay Nagle, Principal Product Marketing Engineer, Microchip Technology Inc.
Gain further insights on some of the key attributes required of semiconductors to facilitate sustainability in electronic systems design.
Semiconductor Innovations for Sustainable Energy Management
As systems design becomes more technologically advanced, the resultant volume increase in electronic content poses threats to environmental sustainability. Global sustainability initiatives are being implemented to mitigate these threats. However, with the rise of these initiatives, there is also an increasing demand for the generation of electricity. Thus, a new challenge emerges: how can we manage these increasing levels of energy consumption?
To answer the call for more electricity generation, it is essential for renewable energy sources to have increasing shares of energy production vs. fossil fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The efficiency of a renewable energy source hinges on optimizing the transfer of energy from the source to the power grid or various electrical loads. These loads include commonly utilized consumer electronics, residential appliances and large-scale battery energy storage systems. Furthermore, the electrical loads must utilize an optimal amount of power during operation to encourage efficient energy usage.
Read on to learn more about the key attributes of semiconductors that contribute to enhanced sustainability in system designs.
Integrated circuits (ICs) or application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) used for renewable power conversion and embedded systems must have four key features: low power dissipation, high reliability, high power density and security.
Low Power Dissipation
One of the main characteristics needed in a semiconductor for sustainable design is low power consumption. This extends battery life, allowing longer operating times between recharges, which ultimately conserves energy.
There are two leading sources of semiconductor power loss. The first is static power dissipation or power consumption when a circuit is in stand-by or a non-operational state. The second source is dynamic power dissipation, or power consumption when the circuit is in an operational state.
To reduce both static and dynamic power dissipation, semiconductors are developed to minimize capacitance through their internal layout construction, operate at lower voltage levels and activate functional blocks depending on if the device is in “deep sleep” stand-by or functional mode.
Microchip offers low power solutions that are energy efficient and reduce hazardous e-waste production.
High Reliability
The reliability of parts and the longevity of the system help to measure performance of semiconductors in sustainable system designs. Semiconductor reliability and longevity can be compromised by operation near the limits of the device’s temperature ratings, mechanical stresses, and torsion.
We use Very Thin Quad Flat No-Lead (VQFN) and Thin Quad Flat Pack (TQFP) packages to encapsulate complex layouts in small form factor packages to address these concerns. Exposed pads on the bottom surface of the VQFN package dissipate an adequate amount of heat, which helps to hold a low junction to case thermal resistance when the device operates at maximum capacity. TQFP packages use gull-wing leads on low-profile height packages to withstand torsion and other mechanical stresses.
High Power Density
Power density refers to the amount of power generated per unit of die size. Semiconductors with high power densities can run at high power levels while being packaged in small footprints. This is common in silicon carbide (SiC) wide-bandgap (WBG) discretes and power modules used in solar, wind and electric-vehicle power-conversion applications.
SiC enhances power-conversion systems by allowing the system to operate at higher frequencies, reducing the size and weight of electrical passives needed to transfer the maximum amount of power from a renewable source.
Our WBG SiC semiconductors offer several advantages over traditional silicon devices, such as running at higher temperatures and faster switching speeds. SiC devices’ low switching losses improve system efficiency while their high-power density reduces size and weight. They also can achieve a smaller footprint with reduction in heat sink dimensions.
Security
Security in semiconductors is almost synonymous with longevity, as security features can enable continued reuse of existing systems. This means that the design can be operated for longer periods of time without the need for replacement or becoming outdated.
There are helpful security features that support system longevity. For example, secure and immutable boot can verify the integrity of any necessary software updates to enhance system performance or fix software bugs. Secure key storage and node authentication can protect against external attacks as well as ensure that verified code runs on the embedded design.
