Recently, STMicroelectronics, Mitsubishi Electric, and Infineon Technologies, which focus on the SiC industry chain, have made new developments.
STMicroelectronics will build the world's first full-process vertically integrated silicon carbide (SiC) factory in Catania, Italy.
Mitsubishi Electric's SiC wafer factory under construction in Kumamoto Prefecture will start operations 5 months ahead of schedule.
Infineon Technologies has obtained the final construction permit for its 5 billion euro smart power semiconductor factory in Dresden, Germany, which will start production as planned in 2026.
Silicon carbide has excellent electrical properties such as high voltage resistance, high temperature resistance, high frequency, and radiation resistance. It has broken through the physical limits of silicon-based semiconductor materials and is one of the core materials of the third-generation semiconductors. Its main application areas include radio frequency devices, new energy vehicles, photovoltaic power generation, data centers, smart grids, rail transit, etc. Among them, the application demand for new energy vehicles and data centers has increased significantly.
The application of silicon carbide in new energy vehicles has become more and more common. At the 2024 Beijing International Auto Show, there will be more than 70 models equipped with silicon carbide. Hao Yue, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that in recent years, the standard configuration of automotive devices is 6-inch silicon carbide substrates and 800-volt MOS devices. STMicroelectronics executives said that in today's new cars, traditional power devices will no longer be used only where silicon carbide can be used.
In addition to new energy vehicles, SiC has also benefited from the AI wave. Professor Shinji Yamamoto of Nagoya University said that in the field of data centers that promote large-scale investments, more and more power-efficient SiC is used in servers. As AI is more deeply integrated into various industries, data processing volume and power consumption have skyrocketed. According to industry data, global data center power consumption will reach 670 billion kilowatt-hours by 2023, about four times that of 2018. When considering how to save energy for servers that use a lot of electricity, high-efficiency power semiconductors are becoming increasingly important, and SiC plays an important role in this.
STMicroelectronics invests 5 billion euros to build a new 8-inch SiC factory
On May 31, STMicroelectronics announced that it will build the world's first full-process vertically integrated silicon carbide (SiC) factory in Catania, Italy
Full-process vertical integration means that the silicon carbide park will serve as the center of STMicroelectronics' global silicon carbide ecosystem, integrating all steps of the production process, including silicon carbide substrate development, epitaxial growth process, 200mm front-end wafer manufacturing and module back-end assembly, as well as process research and development, product design, advanced R&D laboratories for chips, power systems and modules, and complete packaging capabilities
The company said in a statement that the Italian government will provide STMicroelectronics with 2 billion euros in subsidies within the framework of the EU's "Chip Act". The factory will start production in 2026 and achieve mass production of the first 200mm SiC wafers. The goal is to reach full capacity by 2023, with an annual production capacity of 480,000 wafers and up to 15,000 wafers per week at full capacity
According to reports, the construction of the factory will be combined with the existing SiC substrate manufacturing facilities in the area to form STMicroelectronics' silicon carbide park. Jean-Marc Chery, President and CEO of STMicroelectronics, said the Catania SiC Campus will make a significant contribution to maintaining STMicroelectronics’ leading position in SiC technology for automotive and industrial customers in the coming decades.
Mitsubishi Electric's 8-inch SiC wafer factory will start operations 5 months ahead of schedule
In addition to STMicroelectronics' 8-inch SiC factory, Mitsubishi Electric has also received good news recently. It is reported that the company's SiC wafer factory under construction in Kumamoto Prefecture will start operations ahead of schedule. The operation date of the factory has been changed from April 2026 to November 2025, and the operation time has been advanced by about 5 months
It is reported that in March 2023, Mitsubishi Electric announced an investment of approximately 100 billion yen (approximately 4.6 billion yuan), most of which will be used to build a new 8-inch SiC wafer factory and strengthen related production facilities. The factory will have a free facility in the Ishii area of Kumamoto Prefecture to produce 8-inch SiC wafers and introduce a clean room with advanced energy efficiency and high automated production efficiency. In addition, Mitsubishi Electric will also strengthen its 6-inch SiC wafer production facilities to meet the current growing market demand. Masayoshi Takemi, senior executive officer and general manager of Mitsubishi Electric Semiconductor and Device Division, said: "Inquiries about SiC power semiconductors in automotive and industrial applications are increasing, and we hope to respond to the growth in demand by producing 8-inch products (with higher production efficiency than existing products)" Mitsubishi Electric previously stated that the company's wafer production capacity in 2026 will expand by about 5 times compared to 2022. Mitsubishi Electric aims to increase the sales ratio of SiC in the power semiconductor business to more than 30% by fiscal 2030
Infineon's 5 billion euro Dresden chip factory final construction permit approved
On June 3, Infineon's latest news showed that it had obtained the final construction permit for the 5 billion euro smart power semiconductor factory in Dresden, Germany
It is reported that this investment is the largest single investment in Infineon's history. The factory is scheduled to start production in 2026, mainly for the production of analog mixed-signal power products, and will create about 1,000 high-quality jobs. The new factory aims to enhance Europe's supply chain security
Infineon is a very competitive silicon carbide technology supplier in the industry. In recent years, Infineon has spent a lot of money to expand production in many places
Infineon's new wafer factory plan in Kulim, Malaysia initially received 2 billion euros in internal funding support. In mid-2023, the factory received another 5 billion euros in funding for the construction and equipment of the third factory in Kulim. The factory is committed to building the world's largest 200 mm (8-inch) silicon carbide power semiconductor wafer factory. It is reported that the expansion plan of the third plant has obtained design-win contracts of about 5 billion euros and advance payments of about 1 billion euros from long-term customers such as SAIC, Ford, and Chery. In addition, the silicon carbide production capacity of Infineon's Villach plant in Austria is gradually increasing, and it is estimated that the revenue will reach 1 billion euros by 2025. Infineon hopes that with the commissioning of the Kulim Super Plant at the end of 2024, its silicon carbide revenue will eventually reach 7 billion euros in 2030, and occupy 30% of the global silicon carbide device market share.
Rohm plans to start a new SiC power semiconductor factory in Miyazaki Prefecture at the end of this year
In addition to the above-mentioned dynamics of STMicroelectronics, Mitsubishi Electric, and Infineon, Rohm's new 8-inch SiC wafer manufacturing plant in Miyazaki Prefecture is also worth paying attention to
Last July, Rohm reached a basic agreement with Solar Frontier through its subsidiary Lapis Semiconductor to acquire its Kunitomi factory assets in Miyazaki Prefecture and transform the factory into an 8-inch wafer manufacturing plant. According to Rohm's plan at the time, the new SiC power semiconductor factory aims to start production at the end of this year
Currently, Rohm has a total of 3 SiC-based power semiconductor production bases in Japan. In addition to the Kunitomi factory, the other 2 SiC factories are located in Fukuoka and Miyazaki. Rohm's goal is to achieve 100 billion yen in silicon carbide power semiconductor revenue by fiscal 2025; in fiscal 2030, SiC production capacity will increase 35 times compared to fiscal 2021
Recent media news shows that Rohm is accelerating its cooperation with the delisted Toshiba Corporation to seek business integration in power semiconductors
Toshiba officially delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December 2023, and a corporate consortium led by JIP (Japan Industrial Partners) privatized Toshiba through a tender offer. In this process, Rohm invested a total of 300 billion yen to pave the way for integration with Toshiba in the field of power semiconductors
Soon after Toshiba was delisted, Rohm and Toshiba announced a cooperation method of mutual replacement production between the two parties, that is, Rohm's new silicon carbide (SiC) factory in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan and Toshiba's new silicon-based power semiconductor factory in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, cooperated to produce power semiconductors. According to this plan, Rohm will invest 289.2 billion yen and Toshiba plans to invest 99.1 billion yen. In addition, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan also announced that it will provide subsidies of up to 129.4 billion yen to promote the integration of power semiconductor companies. At present, 6-inch wafers still dominate the market in the silicon carbide industry, and 8-inch wafers are in the stage of large-scale capacity release. According to statistics, as of now, nearly 30 companies in the world have achieved R&D breakthroughs in the production of 8-inch SiC single crystals. International silicon carbide manufacturers such as Wolfspeed, ROHM, Infineon, and STM have already entered the 8-inch stage, and the mass production nodes of these manufacturers are basically this year.
