II-VI expands SiC processing in China
II‐VI has expanded its silicon carbide (SiC) wafer finishing manufacturing footprint in China to serve the growing market for electric vehicles (EVs) and clean energy applications.
To meet the market demand in Asia, II-VI has established a backend processing line for conductive SiC substrates in 50,000 sq ft of new cleanroom space, at its regional headquarters in Fuzhou, China.
Last year the company bought European SiC wafer maker Ascatron to secure the supply chain as part of a new SiC power division.
The backend wafer processing at II-VI’s new SiC facility in Fuzhou includes edge grinding, chemical-mechanical polishing, cleaning, and inspection, all performed in Class 100 and 1000 cleanrooms. The facility is part of II-VI’s already announced plan to ramp its SiC substrate manufacturing capacity by five to ten times over five years, including with 200 mm diameter substrates.
“According to recent industry reports, China is expected to continue to be the world’s largest electric car market at over 40% of global sales,” said Sohail Khan, Executive Vice President of the New Ventures & Wide-Bandgap Electronics Technologies Business Unit at II-VI. “We are planning to substantially increase our global production capacity for SiC boules and substrates in the US over the next 5 to 10 years to address the accelerating power electronics market, including for electric vehicles and clean energy applications. These investments will be supported by our global sales force and a SiC platform that includes the world’s first 200mm conductive substrates in 2015. We are excited about our prospects to lead in one of the most promising markets of our generation.”
In addition to EVs, power electronics based on SiC enable high efficiency in inverters for solar and wind energy generation, as well as in smart-grid power switching, due to reduced switching losses, high power density, better heat dissipation, and increased bandwidth capability, compared with existing devices based on silicon.
II-VI maintains a large manufacturing operations and product development presence in China in the cities of Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Suzhou, and Wuxi.
The company recently won a bruising battle to take over photonic component supplier Coherent.
Related SiC articles
- II-VI buys Swedish wafer maker Ascatron
- II-VI licenses silicon carbide tech from GE
- II-VI launches power technology division
- II-VI wins battle for Coherent
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