ST teams with Cree for silicon carbide wafers
The deal, potentially worth $250m over the next few years, covers the supply of 150mm silicon carbide bare and epitaxial wafers for automotive and industrial MOSFETs. Cree already has a $100m deal with Infineon for SiC wafers and produces its own SiC parts for drivetrain applications.
“ST is the only semiconductor company with automotive-grade silicon carbide in mass production today, and we want to press forward to grow our SiC business both in terms of volume and breadth of applications served, targeting leadership in a market estimated at more than $3bn in 2025,” said Jean-Marc Chery, president and CEO of STMicroelectronics. “This agreement with Cree will improve our flexibility, sustain our ambition and plans, and contribute to boosting the pervasion of SiC in automotive and industrial applications.”
“We remain focused on increasing the adoption of silicon carbide-based solutions, and this agreement is a testament to our mission,” said Gregg Lowe, CEO of Cree. “This is the third multi-year agreement that we have signed this past year in support of the industry’s transition from silicon to silicon carbide. As the world leader in silicon carbide, Cree continues to expand capacity to meet the growing market needs, particularly in industrial and automotive applications. We are extremely pleased to continue to support STMicroelectronics as we both invest to accelerate this market.”
The Infineon deal covers photovoltaic inverters and automotive. “This agreement validates the quality of Cree’s SiC wafer technology and our capacity expansion, as well as the accelerated adoption of SiC-based solutions that are critical to enabling faster, smaller, lighter and more powerful electronic systems,” said Lowe.
Cree has a third $85m supply agreement with an unnamed OEM through a distributor.
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