Silicon Carbide’s Next Phase: From Expansion to Optimization
Back in 2023, the silicon carbide (SiC) market felt like a modern-day gold rush. With over $30 billion in global investment announcements from industry giants like STMicroelectronics, Infineon, Onsemi, Rohm and others, the momentum was undeniable. And for good reason - SiC power devices are game changers, driving higher efficiency in power electronics and accelerating the shift toward a more sustainable future.
Partnering for Growth in the Evolving SiC Landscape by Volkswagen Group Components
The Global Automotive Advisory Council (GAAC) Europe Chapter has been actively tracking SiC developments through its working group on power electrification, with key sessions at SEMICON in both 2023 and 2024. However, the market is now entering a transition phase. Government incentives are fading, EV sales have slowed, and a reduction of new fab investments is occurring.
This shift presents both challenges and opportunities. Now is the perfect time to take stock of market trends, explore areas for innovation, and efficiency improvements. Part of this progression is to address critical material constraints across the SiC value chain. A forthcoming strategic paper, co-authored by Entegris and Porsche Consulting, will take a deeper dive into these issues. Below, we highlight key areas shaping the industry’s future.
Strategic Approaches: Adapting to a Changing Competitive Landscape
As the SiC market evolves, Western players face growing competition, particularly from China’s expanding EV and battery manufacturing sectors. European companies in particular must rethink their strategies to maintain a competitive edge. According to Porsche Consulting, three key scenarios could define the future of SiC in Europe.
One approach is total vertical integration, where a single integrated device manufacturer (IDM) controls the entire process, from wafer production to the final module, ensuring full supply chain oversight. Alternatively, a collaborative network of specialized companies could emerge, with different players focusing on specific segments—wafer production, chip manufacturing, or module assembly - leveraging collective expertise while optimizing costs. A third possibility is a fully integrated original equipment manufacturer (OEM) approach, where automakers extend upstream, investing in semiconductor manufacturing and creating a foundry-like business model.
Regardless of the path chosen, the key goals of enhancing competitiveness and cost efficiency remain clear. Achieving this requires continuous innovation in manufacturing and R&D - two critical factors shaping the next phase of SiC development.
Innovation in Manufacturing and R&D: Driving Competitiveness
The SiC semiconductor ecosystem is pushing for advancements on multiple fronts, balancing technological breakthroughs with the need to reduce costs and improve scalability. Scaling up wafer size is a top priority, with the industry accelerating the transition from 6-inch to 8-inch wafers to improve production efficiency. Several fabs have already begun the shift, with more projects underway. At the same time, efforts to enhance the SiC wafer growth process are focused on increasing yields and lowering production costs, while artificial intelligence and digital twins are being leveraged to optimize manufacturing processes.
Innovation in Manufacturing and R&D: Driving Competitiveness by Porsche Consulting
Beyond manufacturing, innovation in device architecture and packaging is equally crucial. The debate between planar and trench MOSFETs power transistors continues, with each approach offering distinct advantages in performance and manufacturability. Superjunction technology is also gaining traction, offering a potential breakthrough in SiC device efficiency. Meanwhile, advancements in packaging and substrates are proving essential for optimizing thermal dissipation and ensuring long-term reliability in high-power applications.
Ultimately, success in SiC hinges on a strategic balance of innovation, cooperation, and ecosystem consolidation - a challenge that will define the next phase of market development.
Mastering the Complexities of Silicon Carbide Manufacturing
Unlike silicon, which has benefited from decades of process refinement, SiC manufacturing is still evolving. High-volume production only truly took off around 2022, leaving room for optimization. However, SiC’s unique material properties - extreme hardness, brittleness, and high-temperature processing requirements - introduce new challenges across the value chain.
One of the most immediate bottlenecks has been wafer polishing. SiC’s hardness, rated 9 on the Mohs scale (just below diamond), makes material removal slow and inefficient with conventional techniques. Achieving the necessary smoothness and defect-free surfaces requires specially designed chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) slurries. Over time, slurry formulations have been refined to improve material removal rates while maintaining surface integrity. Optimizing the slurry-pad combination has also been crucial, as their interaction directly impacts polishing efficiency and final surface quality. The industry continues to innovate in this area, introducing next-generation slurries that enhance performance while minimizing resource consumption and reducing environmental impact.
Handling SiC wafers presents another challenge due to the material’s brittleness. Unlike silicon, SiC wafers are prone to chipping and cracking, especially at the edges, where even minor damage can generate particles that contaminate the entire processing environment. These particles can settle on wafers and equipment, increasing defect rates and reducing overall yield. To address this, multiple innovations have been introduced, including carbon nanotube-enhanced PEEK (a high-performance polymer) wafer carriers, which minimize mechanical stress while withstanding high temperatures. Contactless carrier solutions have also been developed to protect wafers during transportation, preventing abrasion at the wafer’s surface and edges. Additionally, automation has played a crucial role in reducing human handling and the associated risk of breakage or contamination. Together, these solutions have significantly improved wafer reliability and reduced particle-related defects.
Mastering the Complexities of Silicon Carbide Manufacturing by Entegris
While advancements in CMP and wafer handling have made significant strides, other challenges in SiC manufacturing continue to demand attention. Epitaxy, for instance where the same silicon epitaxy tools are used but are required to run SiC at higher temperatures, significantly shortens the lifespan of chamber components. This increases cost of ownership and maintenance needs. To counteract this, new advanced materials and coatings are being developed to extend component durability. Meanwhile, aluminum implantation, necessary for p-type doping in SiC, presents ion source stability issues not seen in traditional silicon doping methods. The industry has responded by undertaking the development of solid aluminum precursors that provide a more stable and higher-flux implantation source, improving process efficiency and yield in high-volume production.
Looking Ahead: The Next Frontiers in Silicon Carbide Manufacturing
Based on our historic knowledge of the silicon-based industry, as yield improvements continue, new challenges are expected to emerge. Filtration and contamination control will become increasingly critical, particularly as SiC devices move to higher voltages and more complex device schemes. Even minor impurities can impact long-term reliability often attributed to latent defects, making purity control across all processing steps - from crystal growth to final chip fabrication -a key focus area.
The SiC industry is maturing rapidly, but long-term success depends on collaboration between material suppliers, equipment manufacturers, and device makers. By working together, the industry is not just overcoming manufacturing barriers, it is shaping the future of high-performance, cost-effective SiC technology for the next generation of power electronics. Ultimately this will positively impact key areas of mobility and energy efficiency all over the globe.
Our upcoming strategic paper, co-authored with Porsche Consulting, will provide a deeper analysis of these trends, industry insights, and recommendations for navigating this critical transition.
Stay tuned — we’ll update this post with the full paper once it’s published.