Exhibition at electronica 2022 ~ NGK exhibits products that support digital society, including EnerCera, a battery for IoT devices ~

NGK INSULATORS, LTD. (hereinafter “NGK”) will participate in electronica 2022, one of the Europe’s largest trade fairs for electronic components, which will be held from November 15th (Tue.) to 18th (Fri.) at Messe München (in Munich, Germany). NGK had previously only participated in the exhibition online, but will participate onsite for the first time. At the booth, solar powered indoor/outdoor position tracker will be exhibited for the first time. An NGK employee will host a lecture about EnerCera^®, a battery for IoT devices, at the event hall on November 16th (Wed.).

electronica, which has been held in Munich, Germany for nearly half a century since the first event in 1964, is the industry’s leading comprehensive trade fair for electronic components where the latest technology and products related to electronic components are displayed.

The theme of NGK’s exhibition will be “Making smart society more comfortable by contributing to digital society with ceramic technology.” The exhibit will feature EnerCera, a battery for IoT devices that contributes to the realization of Society 5.0, a gallium nitride (GaN) wafer that improves the performance of RF devices and high-power devices, and dissimilar material bonded wafers, which contribute to the production of highly functional semiconductors and electronic components. NGK will also display a variety of ceramic products for electronic devices which harness its unique ceramic technology, including translucent alumina ceramic wafers which possess the properties of translucency and high modulus of rigidity, and capacitance sensors, which make it possible to detect the conductivity or concentration of various chemical solutions.

< electronica 2022 Outline >

Dates : November 15th (Tue.) – 18th (Fri.), 2022

URL : https://electronica.de/en/

< Lecture by an NGK Employee >

Date : November 16th (Wed.) 2:30 – 3:00 p.m.

Location : Hall B3, 540 (inside the Messe München event hall)

Theme : New solution for maintenance free IoT devices by semi-solid-state Li-ion　rechargeable EnerCera® batteries

Lecturer : Makoto Iwai

• Manager, Marketing Group, Global Business Creation, Corporate NV Creation, NGK INSULATORS, LTD.
• Manager, New Value Business Group, NGK EUROPE GmbH (Germany)

< Exhibition Contents >

EnerCera, GaN wafers, bonded wafers, translucent alumina ceramic wafers, and capacitance sensors

electronica 2022 exhibition booth (Image)

EnerCera, a power supply for IoT devices

The ultra-thin and compact lithium-ion rechargeable battery EnerCera is highly heat resistant, being able to withstand temperatures of 105°. It is highly durable due to the use of ceramic electrodes, and can be used as a backup power supply for devices and sensors that operate in harsh environments such as factory automation (FA) and plants. EnerCera is characterized by its ability to store even small amounts of electricity due to its low internal resistance. Combined with power supply technologies such as solar power generation and wireless power transfer (WPT), EnerCera enables independent IoT devices such as position trackers for logistics to be used for long periods of time. Furthermore, because EnerCera is ultra-thin and compact, it can even be used in wearable devices, and will help visualize the flow of factory workers and others and reduce manpower by improving operations.

At the booth, NGK will introduce examples of application through videos and AR (augmented reality) exhibits through which visitors can experience specific usage scenarios of standalone IoT devices that utilize EnerCera. NGK will also showcase indoor/outdoor position tracker developed in collaboration with Exeger Operations AB (Stockholm, Sweden), TACHIBANA ELECTRONIC SOLUTIONS CO., LTD. (Minato-ku, Tokyo), Semtech Corporation (California, USA) for the first time. The combination of EnerCera eliminates the need for battery replacement and recharging work required with conventional trackers, making the system maintenance-free.

Li-ion rechargeable battery “EnerCera” series

Indooroutdoor position tracker

EnerCera used for a position tracker

GaN (Gallium Nitride) wafers

GaN wafers exhibits low defect density through NGK's proprietary liquid phase crystal growth method in comparison to the conventional vapor phase crystal growth method. At the booth, NGK will display conductive GaN wafers and semi-insulating GaN wafers. Conductive GaN wafers realize ultra-bright laser diodes and power devices with high power levels and low levels of loss. Semi-insulating GaN wafers improve the performance of RF devices for 5G and 6G wireless communication base stations, various radars, and satellite communications, which all require higher frequencies and higher output.

4-inch conductive GaN wafer (left) and 4-inch semi-insulating GaN wafer (right)

Bonded wafers (Dissimilar material bonded wafers)

Bonded wafers are realized by techniques of bonding dissimilar materials and high-precision polishing. Combinations of dissimilar materials make it possible for bonded wafers to deliver performance and functionality beyond wafers made from a single material, such as suppressing thermal expansion, ensuring mechanical strength, and enhancing thermal conductivity. They are notable for enabling a choice of material matched to the usage, such as semiconductor and piezoelectric crystal for the functional layer, and silicon, sapphire, crystal, or glass for the base material.

Sintered-PZT bonded wafers will be displayed at the booth. Sintered-PZT bonded wafers are fabricated through a sintering method applied to PZT, a piezoelectric material which can be deformed when electricity is applied and generate electricity when deformed. They are bonded to a base material and polished for use as a functional layer, and applied to wireless speakers and sensors for autonomous driving, etc.

sintered-PZT bonded wafers
1µm functional layer (left) and 100µm functional layer (right)