MEXT will launch a large-scale five-year research project through industry-academia collaboration with the aim of commercializing vertical power semiconductors in the fields of GaN and gallium oxide, which are Japan’s strengths.
🟦MEXT to Commercialize GaN and Gallium Oxide Vertical Power Semiconductors New Project for University-Business Collaboration Launches
From FY2026, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology will launch a new project to promote research and development of next-generation power semiconductors made of gallium nitride (GaN) and gallium oxide (Ga₂O₃). In a five-year plan, we will openly recruit participating universities and allocate research funds on the premise of collaboration with companies. In particular, we aim to implement GaN devices with a vertical structure that can handle high voltages and currents in society.
- Key contents: Open call for universities from FY2026 to develop vertical GaN and gallium oxide power semiconductors through industry-academia collaboration
- Technical features: The vertical structure can handle higher voltages and higher currents than the horizontal structure, and is also more energy-saving and durable.
- Intended applications: Next-generation high-load equipment such as AI data centers, EVs, drones, and robots
🟦 Why Japan competes with GaN and gallium oxide
Silicon semiconductors, which are currently the mainstream, are beginning to see their limits in terms of performance, and there is a shift to new materials, especially in the field of power electronics, where high voltage resistance and high efficiency are required. GaN and gallium oxide are fields in which Japan has a global advantage in research, and basic research has been progressing through the “Innovative Power Electronics Creation Basic Technology Research and Development Project”.
This new project aims to bridge the results to practical application. Similar developments are taking place in the United States, Central and Europe, and international competition for EVs and renewable energy power control markets is intensifying.
🟦 Summary
From FY2026, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology will promote the development of vertical power semiconductors for GaN and gallium oxide through industry-academia collaboration, and accelerate the domestic production of technologies that support next-generation infrastructure such as AI, EVs, and robots.
If we can bring the material technology that Japan is good at to social implementation, it is expected to directly lead to strengthening our competitiveness in the global market.
