Cree Inc of Durham, NC, USA has signed a non-exclusive worldwide patent license agreement with Transphorm Inc of Goleta, near Santa Barbara, CA, USA (which designs and delivers power conversion devices and modules) that provides access to Cree's family of patents related to gallium nitride (GaN) high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) and GaN Schottky diode devices for use in the field of power conversion devices.
The licensed family of patents addresses various aspects of making GaN power devices including nitride materials, HEMT and Schottky diode designs and processing technology. While GaN HEMTs are already used extensively in RF markets by Cree and others, their use in power conversion markets has been targeted by Transphorm and a number of other firms.
"Over the last 17 years, Cree has invented technology that enabled the successful introduction of reliable GaN HEMT devices in the RF market," says John Palmour, Cree's chief technology officer, Power & RF, and one of Cree's co-founders. "Many of these inventions can and are expected to be used by others to manufacture devices in the burgeoning area of GaN power management systems."
