Heraeus Announces New Pressureless Sintering Paste for High-Power GaN Devices, Balancing Cost and Performance

July 5, 2026

Semiconductor Today Germany

Overview

Heraeus has announced an innovative pressureless sintering paste specifically for high-power GaN (gallium nitride) devices. This material achieves high bonding strength and excellent thermal conductivity without requiring complex pressure equipment, thus contributing to reduced manufacturing costs and enhanced performance of GaN power devices. This is a crucial breakthrough that simplifies mass production processes for next-generation power electronics and accelerates the adoption of GaN devices in electric vehicles and renewable energy sectors.

In Depth

Key Findings

Heraeus has unveiled a new pressureless sintering paste, set to revolutionize the manufacturing process of high-power GaN (gallium nitride) devices. This groundbreaking material’s key feature is its ability to achieve exceptionally high bonding strength and superior thermal conductivity without the need for specialized pressure equipment. This not only significantly reduces manufacturing costs but also enhances the long-term reliability and performance of GaN devices. It represents an indispensable technology for the high efficiency and high power density demanded by electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy systems.

Technical Details

Pressureless Sintering: Unlike conventional sintering processes that apply high pressure to form dense bond layers, this new paste achieves comparable high performance without external pressure. This allows for reduced capital investment costs and process simplification.
High Thermal Conductivity: Efficiently dissipates the significant heat generated by GaN devices, keeping the device junction temperature low. This extends device lifespan and ensures stable operation at high power densities. It achieves several times the thermal conductivity of typical solder materials.
Superior Bond Strength: Despite being pressureless, it forms a strong metallic bond between the semiconductor chip and the substrate, providing stable reliability even under severe thermal cycling and vibration environments.
Low-Temperature Process Capability: Enables processing at lower temperatures than traditional sintering, reducing thermal stress on sensitive GaN chips and surrounding components. This also contributes to improved manufacturing yield.

Background & Context

GaN power devices are gaining significant attention as the cornerstone of next-generation power electronics due to their advantages over Si (silicon)-based devices in terms of high frequency, high efficiency, and miniaturization. While their adoption is increasing in various sectors, including EV on-board chargers, data center server power supplies, and 5G communication base stations, manufacturing costs and complexity, particularly in the die-attach process, have been persistent challenges. Conventional sintering processes, which require high temperatures and pressures, involve substantial capital investment and raise concerns about their impact on thermally sensitive GaN devices.

Strategic Significance & Outlook

Heraeus’s pressureless sintering paste will eliminate a major barrier in GaN power device manufacturing, accelerating mass production and cost reduction. This will further drive the market penetration of GaN devices, contributing significantly to the decarbonization and digitalization of society through enhanced EV performance, improved renewable energy conversion efficiency, and energy savings in data centers. Moving forward, this technology is also expected to be applied to a wide range of other semiconductor packaging fields, especially in thermal-management-critical applications.

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