Texas Instruments CTO Ahmad Baha'i presents "Power Electronics: A More Than Moore Perspective."

SEMICON Korea 2016, a semiconductor manufacturing technology exhibition, opened on the 27th at COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul.

On the first day of the event, SEMICON Korea held a keynote speech on the topic of "Innovation: Creating the Future," and invited speakers from Synopsys, Texas Instruments, and Audi participated in the presentations.

Ahmad Bahai, CTO of Texas Instruments, presented the keynote address on the day, titled 'Power Electronics: A more than Moore Perspective.'

"In the age of connectivity, power is becoming increasingly important," said CTO Ahmad. "For example, if you look at automobiles, the semiconductors used in automobiles are growing at a rate of more than twice the number of automobiles. Now, semiconductors have become the standard for automobile value."

He said that semiconductors have seen innovation over the past 30 years, which has resulted in a tenfold increase in yield and improved productivity, and that wafer size and process throughput have also improved by more than tenfold, but power does not follow Moore's Law. Accordingly, it was emphasized that power can be a barrier to applications or vice versa.

According to a US study, while 30% of all energy consumed in 2005 had to pass through semiconductors, by 2030, 80% of all energy consumed will be through semiconductors. This means that power is managed based on semiconductors, from microwatts (minimal amounts of power) to megawatts in power generation.

CTO Ahmad stated that power is a crucial element, especially in the smart grid, which is deeply impacting our daily lives. He added that simply passing through an airport X-ray machine will soon be enough to charge our devices. Of course, this will require battery technology to improve by at least tenfold.

To advance storage technology, high energy density is being increased, and the development of supercapacitor technology is accelerating. Furthermore, breakthroughs in on-resistance, superjunction development, and the development of compound semiconductors are enhancing the efficiency of power devices.

He also emphasized the importance of technology to switch from standby mode to full power mode, saying that technology is being developed to efficiently switch from standby mode to full power mode, and that TI will soon unveil cutting-edge devices related to this.

Finally, CTO Ahmad emphasized, "Power and energy efficiency are ongoing challenges, and innovation in the power semiconductor field is essential."