TAIPEI, Taiwan - Of its high-temperature resistance and high voltage endurance abilities, Silicon Carbide(SiC) components become a favorite power solution of EV and green energy. However, due to its unstable material characteristic which leads to low production capacity and low yield rate, which will unable to meet the high raising market needs. And it may limit the development of related applications.
In 2022 SEMICON Taiwan, where many companies exhibited SiC-related solutions including crystal growth furnaces, wafers, cutting, grinding, inspection solutions, and SiC module and components solutions downstream. Even in wafer size, there were 8-inch (200mm) products had been showcased, which means SiC was becoming a highlight of the compound semiconductor.
Apart from many numerous suppliers and comprehensive solutions, the actual global production capacity is far below the real demands.
From the demands standpoint, the shortage is reflecting the rapid growth of EV and green power, where the demand for the Wide Band Gap compound semiconductor is enormous. Therefore it leads to a big gap in SiC supply.
However, from the perspective of supply, SiC material manufacturing is very challenging, the speed of crystal growth is very slow, and the yield rate of wafers and components has always been low, resulting in a high cost and low supply.
