ST produces first 200 mm SiC wafers in Sweden

For STMicroelectronics, the transition to 200mm silicon carbide wafers is a key step in expanding production capacity to support the electrification of automotive and industrial systems and products.

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STMicroelectronics produced the first 200mm (8-inch equivalent) silicon carbide (SiC) wafers for prototyping next-generation power devices at its Norrköping, Sweden, facility. The transition to 200mm SiC wafers marks an important milestone in ST's capacity expansion to support its automotive and industrial customer programs, as well as consolidating ST's leadership in a disruptive semiconductor technology that enables more compact, lightweight and efficient power electronics devices with lower TCO.

As well as being among the world's first, ST's 200mm SiC wafers are characterised by very high quality, with minimal defects in terms of crystal dislocation and impact on yield. The low defectiveness was achieved by leveraging the excellent know-how and expertise in SiC ingot growth technology developed by STMicroelectronics Silicon Carbide A.B. (formerly Norstel A.B., acquired by ST in 2019). In addition to meeting high quality requirements, the transition to 200mm SiC substrates requires a breakthrough in manufacturing equipment and overall support ecosystem performance. ST, in collaboration with technology partners covering the entire supply chain, is developing its own equipment and processes for the manufacture of 200 mm SiC.

ST currently produces high-quality, high-volume SiC STPOWER devices on two lines for 150mm substrates at its Catania and Ang Mo Kio (Singapore) facilities, with assembly and testing operations taking place at its back-end sites in Shenzhen (China) and Bouskoura (Morocco). The new development is part of the company's planned transition to more advanced and cost-effective high-volume production of 200mm SiC, which is part of the company's existing plan to build a new SiC substrate plant and achieve domestic supply of over 40% of SiC wafers by 2024.

"The transition to 200mm SiC wafers will bring substantial benefits to our automotive and industrial customers, who are accelerating the transition to electrification of their systems and products," said Marco Monti, President Automotive and Discrete Group at STMicroelectronics, "which is important to support economies of scale and accompany product volume expansion. Building strong know-how in our internal SiC ecosystem at all levels of the production chain, from high-quality SiC substrates to large-scale front-end and back-end manufacturing, improves our flexibility and gives us greater control over improving the yield and quality of our slices".

Silicon carbide enables more efficient power conversion, lighter and more compact devices, and an overall reduction in system design costs. The increased production capacity made possible by 200mm slices means that the usable area for IC production can be almost doubled compared to 150mm slices, increasing the number of chips that can be manufactured by 1.8-1.9 times.


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