Mitsubishi and Coherent collaborate on SiC manufacturing
Companies have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on manufacturing of silicon carbide power electronics for electric vehicles on a 200-millimeter technology platform.
“We are excited to build on our relationship with Mitsubishi Electric, a pioneer in SiC power devices and a global market leader in SiC power modules for high-speed trains, including the famous Shinkansen in Japan,” said Sohail Khan, executive vice president, new ventures and wide-bandgap electronics technologies at Coherent. “We have a long track record of supplying SiC substrates to Mitsubishi Electric and are looking forward to expanding our relationship with them to scale their new 200 mm SiC platform.”
The market for electric vehicles is expanding worldwide and is just one of several emerging applications driving the exponential growth in SiC power devices, which have lower energy losses, higher operating temperatures, and higher switching speeds compared with power devices based on silicon. The high efficiency of SiC power devices is expected to be a significant contributor to global decarbonization and the green transformation.
To meet the rapidly growing demand, Mitsubishi Electric announced an investment of approximately 260 billion yen (1.86 billion dollars) in the five-year period ending March 2026. A major portion of the investment, approximately 100 billion yen, will be used to construct a new plant for SiC power devices, based on a 200-mm technology platform, and enhance related production facilities. Under the MOU, Coherent will develop a supply of 200-mm n-type 4H SiC substrates for Mitsubishi Electric’s future SiC power devices manufactured at the new facility.
“Coherent has been for many years a reliable supplier of high-quality 150 mm SiC wafer substrates to Mitsubishi Electric,” said Masayoshi Takemi, executive officer, group president, semiconductor and device at Mitsubishi Electric. Coherent has decades of experience in the development of SiC materials. The company demonstrated the world’s first 200 mm conductive substrates in 2015. In 2019, Coherent began to supply 200 mm SiC substrates under Reaction, a Horizon 2020 four-year program funded by the European Commission.
Mitsubishi Electric made history by launching the world’s first SiC power modules for air conditioners in 2010, and became the first supplier of a full SiC power module for Shinkansen high-speed trains in 2015.
