Chip makers bet big on SiC

Feature articles | February 5, 2023

By Nick Flaherty

Chip makers in Europe are making big bets on the growth in silicon carbide (SiC) power devices.

ST Microelectronics is planning to top $1bn in its SiC business this year, up from $700m. onsemi is also aiming for $1bn this year, with investments in the Czech Republic. Infineon is expanding its SiC production in Austria and Vienna, and Wolfspeed this week announced plans to build the world’s largest SiC plant in Saarland, Germany.

ST’s Jean-Mark Chery pointed to 25 electric vehicle projects with eight customers. “In SiC we saw $700m in 2022 with a plan to be above $1bn in 2023,” he said at the results presentation this week.

The company is building a pilot line for wafers and a processing frontend in Catania, Sicily, alongside the existing SiC fab.

“We are increasing ten fold the front end capacity and will have 40% of the substrates internally sourced by Q4 2024, starting on 150mm and moving to 200mm,” he said. “Catania is an important step and volume production is expected to start in H2 this year and we have produces the first 150mm ingot. On the substrate initiative our intention was to build a strategic source for security of the supply chain,” he said. “We have seen in the last two years that issues can occur.”

“The second objective to acquire internal capability is R&D and efficiency. We want not to be dependent on anybody and move our production to 200mm,” he said.

All of this comes with market predictions of $5bn by 2027 for the dominant sector, automotive, up from $685m in 2021 according to European analysts Yole Developpement.

With onsemi also targeting $1bn turnover in SiC in 2023 and a key deal with Volkswagen, it is expanding its substrate factory in Roznov by a factor of 16.

Wolfspeed’s 200mm plant will support $4bn of SiC production by 2027 using wafer produced in the US with a significant investment from ZF Friedrichshafen.

The Saarland plant is part of a $6.5bn global capacity expansion plan which also includes the John Palmour Manufacturing Centre for Silicon Carbide, the world’s largest Silicon Carbide crystal growth facility currently under construction in North Carolina, and final build-out of the company’s Mohawk Valley Fab.

However the Saarland plant is planned as part of the Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) for Microelectronics and Communication Technologies and is dependent upon state aid approval from the European Commission.

“This new fab represents a big step forward for both Wolfspeed and our regional customers, as we enhance the ecosystem for semiconductor production and innovation,” said Gregg Lowe, President and CEO of Wolfspeed.

“This new facility will be crucial to supporting our expansion in a capacity constrained industry that is growing very rapidly, especially across the EV marketplace. It was important for us to have a facility located in the heart of Europe, near many of our customers and partners, to foster collaboration on the next generation of Silicon Carbide technologies.”

Infineon upgraded its deal with Showa Denko, now Resonac, last month to help the move to 200mm wafers Infineon is planning to increase its SiC production ten fold by 2027 to have a third of the market by 2030.

Then there are other companies entering the market Microchip has a strong SiC business in aerospace, while Diodes has launched its first SiC diodes and is moving into MOSFETs and Coherent is also increasing its substrate production.

www.wolfspeed.com; www.st.com; www.onsemi.com; www.infineon.com;