News

17 November 2006

 

TranSiC raises €0.44m in first-round financing

TranSiC AB of Kista, Sweden has raised SEK4m ($0.6m, or €0.44m) venture capital in first-round financing, led by Volvo Technology Transfer Corp (VTT), and co-led by private equity company Midroc New Technology AB, also of Sweden.

TranSiC was spun off from the Kista-based Royal Institute of Technology in December 2005 by Mikael Östling, Martin Domeij and Bo Hammarlund. The company was initially supported financially by Vinnova (Swedish Governmental
Agency for Innovation Systems) and Energimyndigheten (Swedish Energy Agency), and has been coached by Stockholm Innovation and Growth (STING). It says its mission is to supply the industry with the first generation of
power transistors in silicon carbide.

Development and device fabrication is performed in the Electrum Laboratory in Kista, where a 4-inch line suited to SiC device technology is available. TranSiC also has access to device characterization facilities and to applications testing through cooperation with pilot customers.

“This investment will enable us to bring to our customers power bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) in silicon carbide [BitSiC],” says CEO Hammarlund. The first transistors will be rated for 1200V. Compared to silicon power BJTs, advantages include higher current gains, lower power
losses, faster switching and excellent ruggedness, he claims.

In addition, the BitSiC chip operates well at temperatures exceeding 250°C, claims TranSiC, and this opens up for new applications after development of a suitable package technology. “We are also planning for a package technology that can withstand temperatures up to 225°C,” says Hammarlund.

Targeted applications are compact motor drives exceeding 1kW, e.g. for future hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs), distributed power generation on the grid, high-temperature-capable power electronics and high-frequency,
high-voltage applications.

“For the automotive industry, managing power electronics is an increasing challenge,” said VTT investment director Johan M Carlsson. “The TranSiC products increase design flexibility and efficiency of, for example, hybrid drivelines.”

Visit: http://www.transic.se