SiC & GaN (wide-bandgap)

New transistor materials that leave plain silicon behind in power, like switching from copper to fiber-optic. Silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) have a much wider bandgap, so they withstand higher voltages in a thinner layer, conduct with lower resistance, and switch many times faster while making less heat. A GaN charger can be a third the size of a silicon one at the same wattage.

Faster switching means tiny inductors and transformers, so wide-bandgap devices shrink and cool everything from phone chargers to 800 V EV powertrains and grid inverters. SiC handles the high-voltage, high-power end (cars, solar); GaN owns the high-frequency, lower-voltage end (chargers, data-center supplies). The catch is they switch so abruptly that gate-driver and layout discipline become make-or-break, and they cost more per amp.