Electrical Efficiency

Great Lakes Crystal Technologies is developing a diamond semiconductor transistor to support the control infrastructure needed for an energy grid with more distributed generation sources and more variable loads. The proposed transistor takes advantage of the properties of diamond, an ultrawide-bandgap semiconductor material with better thermal management, lower power loss, and higher operating voltage than conventional materials. The device switches can be controlled by light source and electrical means, improving electromagnetic interference immunity.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is developing an optically triggered semiconductor switching device to reduce power losses up to 50% compared with current technologies. The team seeks to monolithically integrate optically triggered phototransistors and power transistors onto the same chip—which are typically incompatible because of material dissimilarities—by using ultrawide-bandgap materials. The proposed technology could increase switching frequency without raising switching losses and serve as a critical building block for grid modernization.

Texas Tech University is developing a photoconductive semiconductor switching device from ultrawide-bandgap materials that would enable improved control of the grid. The ultrawide-bandgap semiconductors used in the device—hexagonal boron nitride and aluminum nitride—support higher voltage and current than legacy semiconductor materials. Texas Tech’s device seeks to enable efficient high-power and high-speed power electronics converters for a smarter grid.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is developing a semiconductor transistor device to enable future grid control systems to accommodate higher voltage and current than conventional devices. The team seeks to build a high-power diamond optoelectronic device that has the inherent advantages of diamond’s superior properties relative to other wide- and ultrawide-bandgap semiconductor materials. Three of the proposed devices in series would be able to support more than 6 kilovolts, almost double that of existing wide-bandgap commercial options.

NextWatt is developing an ultrawide-bandgap optical triggered device that addresses the need for fast protection for solid-state transformers (SST), a promising technology for revolutionizing substations and renewable energy systems. NextWatt seeks to build an ultrafast optical switching device using a low-cost beta-gallium oxide semiconductor triggered with a readily available mid-wavelength optical beam. If successful, the device would enable solid-state-circuit breakers for protection of SSTs and other power and energy applications.