Ajay Poonjal Pai
Director of WBG Innovation & Application Engineering
Sanan
Dr. Ajay Poonjal Pai obtained his B. Tech in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from NITK Surathkal, India and M.Sc. in Electrical Power Engineering from RWTH Aachen University, Germany. He then pursued his PhD focusing on Silicon Carbide (SiC) power semiconductors for automotive traction inverter applications at the Friedrich Alexander University (FAU), Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. From 2015 to 2023, he worked at Infineon Technologies AG, Germany as a Principal Engineer responsible for next-generation automotive SiC technologies and power modules. Since May 2023, he is working at Sanan Semiconductors Munich, responsible for Wide Bandgap (WBG) Innovation and Application Engineering topics. His research interests include e-mobility, SiC semiconductors, power modules and power electronics, and has contributed to numerous invited lectures and conferences worldwide.
Presentations
Powering the SiC Revolution with Vertical Integration
Silicon Carbide has emerged as a promising material for power semiconductors, owing to its higher bandgap compared to Silicon. The higher bandgap enables unipolar power switches in the kilo volt range, bringing significant benefits in terms of efficiency and power density. As a consequence, SiC is already seeing mass adoption in various applications. However, several challenges still remain. In this presentation, the key benefits of SiC as well as the challenges in mass adoption of SiC are discussed. It will be explained how Sanan Semiconductors is working to solve some of these challenges, with its vertically integrated SiC production, i.e., from substrate to devices.