©istockphoto.com/sakkmesterke IEEE Itrw: International technology roadmap for wide-Bandgap Power semiconductors An overview by Peter R. Wilson, Braham Ferreira, Jing Zhang, and Christina DiMarino Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPEL.2018.2821938 Date of publication: 14 June 2018 22 IEEE PowEr ElEctronIcs MagazInE T he growth of electric power usage has continued to accelerate with the electrification of so many aspects of normal life in a modern world reliant on electricity for its prime source of energy. The increased take-up of sustainable energy production from photovoltaics and wind generation along with the ever-increasing demand for electricity from fossil fuel generation has more than doubled since the 1970 s, and power electronics plays a key role in converting these disparate forms of energy generation into electricity. Power electronics as a discipline covers a wide range of power conversion from grid-level transmission and distribution to power conversion by individual consumers. It is clear from the technology rush to wide-bandgap devices by the power electronics community, especially silicon carbide (SiC) and galium nitride (GaN), that the benefits of moving from silicon to wide-bandgap technology (SiC or GaN) will have significant influence on the power electronics industry in the future. z June 2018 2329-9207/18©2018IEEEhttp://www.istockphoto.com/sakkmesterke