Leading provider of power/RF semiconductor solutions, Cree, has announced the expansion and extension of an existing multi-year, long-term silicon carbide wafer supply agreement, with STMicroelectronics, to more than $500 million. The extended agreement is double the value of the original agreement to supply of Cree’s advanced 150mm silicon carbide bare and epitaxial wafers to STMicroelectronics over the next few years.
The adoption of silicon carbide-based power solutions is rapidly growing across the automotive market as the industry seeks to accelerate its move from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles, enabling greater system efficiencies that result in electric cars with longer range and faster charging, while reducing cost, lowering weight and conserving space. In the industrial market, silicon carbide modules enable smaller, lighter and more cost-effective inverters, converting energy more efficiently to unlock new clean energy applications. The increased wafer supply enables the semiconductor leaders to address this rapidly growing demand.
According to Jean-Marc Chery, President and CEO of STMicroelectronics, the expansion of the long-term wafer supply agreement with Cree will increase the flexibility of STMicro’s global silicon carbide substrate supply. It will further contribute to securing the required volume of substrate the company needs to manufacture its silicon carbide-based products as it ramps up production over the next years for the increasing number of programs won at automotive and industrial customers
According to Gregg Lowe, CEO of Cree, silicon carbide delivers performance enhancements that are critical to electric vehicles and a host of next-generation industrial solutions for solar, energy storage and UPS systems. And Cree thus remains committed to leading the semiconductor industries transition from silicon to silicon carbide. The extension of the agreement with ST ensures Cree will be able to meet the accelerating, global demand for this solution across a diverse range of applications while accelerating the market.
Cree is an innovator of Wolfspeed power and radio frequency (RF) semiconductors. Cree’s Wolfspeed product portfolio includes silicon carbide materials, power-switching devices and RF devices targeted for applications such as electric vehicles, fast charging, inverters, power supplies, telecom and military and aerospace.
