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Renesas Electronics And Wolfspeed Reach 10-Year Wafer Supply Agreement
time2023/07/06
- Renesas and Wolfspeed Corporation announced that they have reached an agreement to ensure that Wolfspeed will provide a 10-year supply commitment of silicon carbide chips and epitaxial wafers.
According to the supply agreement, Wolfspeed Co., Ltd. will begin mass production of 150mm silicon carbide die and epitaxial wafers to Renesas Electronics in 2025. Once Wolfspeed's John Palmour SiC manufacturing center in the north is completed, Wolfspeed will supply 200mm SiC bare wafers and epitaxial wafers to Renesas Electronics. Carolina is fully operational.
Compared with traditional silicon power semiconductors, memory silicon devices have higher energy efficiency, greater power density and carbon-initial cost systems. In a world of increasingly conscious energy claims, the adoption of silicon carbide is becoming increasingly common in a variety of large-scale applications such as electric vehicles, renewable energy and charging infrastructure, industrial power supplies, traction and variable speed drives.
Driven by the growth of electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy, demand for more power semiconductors (used to supply and manage electricity) in automotive and industrial high-efficiency applications is expected to increase. Renesas Electronics is moving quickly to meet growing demand for power semiconductors by expanding its in-house manufacturing capabilities. The company recently announced the restart of IGBT production at the Kofu plant and the establishment of a silicon carbide production line at the Takasaki plant.
Renesas Electronics President Hidetoshi Shibata said: "The wafer supply agreement with Wolfspeed will enable Renesas Electronics to provide a stable, long-term supply base of high-quality silicon carbide wafers. This enables Renesas Electronics to expand our power semiconductors product"
An investment of approximately US$2 billion will support Wolfspeed's production capacity expansion in North Carolina, USA, with the goal of reaching more than 10 times the current silicon carbide production capacity. It is reported that the factory mainly produces 200mm silicon carbide, which is more difficult to manufacture than 150mm, but can effectively reduce chip costs.