UK government to announce expansion of SiC at Vishay Newport fab
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The UK government is set to announce a significant expansion of the Vishay Siliconix fab in Newport, Wales, for production of silicon carbide (SiC) chips for electric cars and renewable energy. The deal is expected to be around £250m.
The expansion is expected to cover the move to 200mm wafers from the current 150mm wafers for higher volume production backed by the UK’s Automotive Transformation Fund.
The automotive-qualified fab, acquired in 2021 after Nexperia was forced to sell, already has the G10-SiC epitaxy production system that supports 200mm wafers. Vishay had already announced plans to invest £51m in the site in November last year.
“The G10-SiC epi production tool delivers a leading cost structure for 200 mm epitaxy, which meets Vishay’s productivity goals,” said Danilo Crippa, Senior Director R&D for SiC development at Vishay when the tools were delivered last year.
- €2bn for ST 200mm SiC line in Catania
- Infineon ships first SiC devices from 200mm wafers
- Wolfspeed struggles as costs of 200mm fab hit
STMicroelectronics, Infineon and Wolfspeed are all building 200mm SIC fabs to supply the automotive market. The fab was owned by Infineon until 2017 after its acquisition of power chip maker International Rectifier.
Requests to the UK government were referred to the Treasury which did not respond. Vishay declined to comment ahead of the announcement.
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