After announcing the world's first 300-millimeter gallium nitride (GaN) power wafer and opening the world's largest 200-millimeter silicon carbide (SiC) power fab in Kulim, Malaysia, Infineon Technologies AG has unveiled the next milestone in semiconductor manufacturing technology. Infineon has reached a breakthrough in handling and processing the thinnest silicon power wafers ever manufactured, with a thickness of only 20 micrometers and a diameter of 300 millimeters, in a high-scale semiconductor fab. The ultra-thin silicon wafers are only a quarter as thick as a human hair and half as thick as current state-of-the-art wafers of 40-60 micrometers.

"The world's thinnest silicon wafer is proof of our dedication to deliver outstanding customer value by pushing the technical boundaries of power semiconductor technology," said Jochen Hanebeck, CEO at Infineon Technologies. "Infineon's breakthrough in ultra-thin wafer technology marks a significant step forward in energy-efficient power solutions and helps us leverage the full potential of the global trends decarbonization and digitalization. With this technological masterpiece, we are solidifying our position as the industry's innovation leader by mastering all three relevant semiconductor materials: Si, SiC and GaN."

Bosch is expanding its semiconductor business with silicon carbide chips. The technology company plans to acquire assets of the U.S. chipmaker TSI Semiconductors, based in Roseville, California. With a workforce of 250, the company is a foundry for application-specific integrated circuits, or ASICs. Currently, it mainly develops and produces large volumes of chips on 200-millimeter silicon wafers for applications in the mobility, telecommunications, energy, and life sciences industries. Over the next years, Bosch intends to invest more than 1.5 billion USD in the Roseville site and convert the TSI Semiconductors manufacturing facilities to state-of-the-art processes. Starting in 2026, the first chips will be produced on 200-millimeter wafers based on the innovative material silicon carbide (SiC).

In this way, Bosch is systematically reinforcing its semiconductor business, and will have significantly extended its global portfolio of SiC chips by the end of 2030. Above all, the global boom and ramp-up of electromobility are resulting in huge demand for such special semiconductors. The full scope of the planned investment will be heavily dependent on federal funding opportunities available via the CHIPS and Science Act as well as economic development opportunities within the State of California. Bosch and TSI Semiconductors have reached an agreement to not to disclose any financial details of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval.

onsemi, a leader in intelligent power and sensing technologies, today celebrated the inauguration of its expanded silicon carbide (SiC) fab in Roznov, Czech Republic. Multiple guests of honor attended the ribbon cutting ceremony led by Ministry of Industry and Trade Section Chief Zbyněk Pokorný, Governor of the Zlín Region Radim Holiš and City Mayor Jiří Pavlica as well as other local governmental dignitaries, signifying the importance of this event and manufacturing of semiconductors in the Czech Republic.

Starting in 2019, onsemi added SiC polished wafer and SiC epitaxy (EPI) wafer production to its existing silicon polished and epitaxy wafer and die manufacturing in Roznov. Having outgrown the original site, reconstruction of a new building began last year to further expand wafer and SiC EPI manufacturing. Over the next two years, this expansion will increase the site's SiC production capabilities by 16 times and create 200 jobs by the end of 2024. So far onsemi has invested more than $150 million in the Roznov site and plans to spend an additional $300 million through 2023. onsemi was recently awarded the Association for Foreign Investments (AFI) Prize for Significant Contribution in the Field of Investment for its SiC investments in the Czech Republic.

At present, the materials with the most development potential are Wide Band Gap (WBG) semiconductors with high power and high frequency characteristics, including silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN), which are mainly used in electric vehicles (EV) and the fast charging battery market. TrendForce research estimates, the output value of third generation power semiconductors will grow from US$980 million in 2021 to US$4.71 billion in 2025, with a CAGR of 48%.

SiC is suitable for high-power applications, such as energy storage, wind power, solar energy, EVs, new energy vehicles (NEV) and other industries that utilize highly demanding battery systems. Among these industries, EVs have attracted a great deal of attention from the market. However, most of the power semiconductors used in EVs currently on the market are Si base materials, such as Si IGBT and Si MOSFET. However, as EV battery power systems gradually develop to voltage levels greater than 800 V, compared with Si, SiC will produce better performance in high-voltage systems. SiC is expected to gradually replace part of the Si base design, greatly improve vehicle performance, and optimize vehicle architecture. The SiC power semiconductor market is estimated to reach US$3.39 billion by 2025.

The third-generation semiconductor industry was impaired by the US-China trade war and the COVID-19 pandemic successively from 2018 to 2020, according to TrendForce's latest investigations. During this period, the semiconductor industry on the whole saw limited upward momentum, in turn leading to muted growth for the 3rd gen semiconductor segment as well. However, this segment is likely to enter a rapid upturn owing to high demand from automotive, industrial, and telecom applications. In particular, the GaN power device market will undergo the fastest growth, with a $61 million revenue, a 90.6% YoY increase, projected for 2021.

The People Republic of China has always released 5-year plans that have a goal of achieving something. And in the latest, 14th 5-year plan China has an eye on the semiconductor industry. Specifically, China wants to develop independence and self-sufficiency when it comes to semiconductors. With tensions between the US and China raising, it is a smart move to have domestic technology to rely on. The new plan starts next year, 2021, and ends in the year 2025. In that period, China will devote financial resources and human workforce that will hopefully enable its goal. The primary aim for this 14th plan seems to be 3rd generation semiconductor technology. What is meant by that is a technology like gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC). These technologies would be a nice addition to China's portfolio of semiconductors, so we should wait and see what comes out of it.