Mitsubishi Electric And Coherent Corp. Partner To Scale Manufacturing Of SiC Power Electronics On A 200 mm Technology Platform

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and Coherent Corp., a globally renowned company in materials, networking, and lasers, have announced that they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on a program to scale manufacturing of SiC power electronics on a 200 mm technology 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.

High efficiency of SiC power devices drives decarbonization

The high efficiency of SiC power devices is expected to be a significant contributor to global decarbonization

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 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.

Mitsubishi Electric and Coherent Corp. sign MoU

Under the Memorandum of Understanding (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 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 leads the SiC power module markets

Mitsubishi Electric made history by launching the world’s first SiC power modules for air conditioners in 2010

Over the years, Mitsubishi Electric has led the SiC power module markets for high-speed trains, high voltage industrial applications, and home appliances.

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.

Mitsubishi Electric has also built extensive expertise by serving customers’ needs for high performance and high reliability, through its outstanding techniques of processing and screening, as well as many other facets of developing and manufacturing SiC power modules.

Power electronics based on SiC

Power electronics based on SiC have demonstrated their potential to have a highly beneficial impact on the environment via significant reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.

Through the rapidly growing demand for SiC power devices, Coherent and Mitsubishi Electric will accelerate their contribution to sustainable energy consumption and the decarbonization of society.

Mitsubishi Electric and Coherent Corp. partnership

Coherent has been for many years a reliable supplier of high-quality 150 mm SiC wafer substrates to Mitsubishi Electric"

Masayoshi Takemi, Executive Officer, Group President, Semiconductor & Device at Mitsubishi Electric, said “Coherent has been for many years a reliable supplier of high-quality 150 mm SiC wafer substrates to Mitsubishi Electric."

Masayoshi Takemi adds, "We are delighted to enter into this close partnership with Coherent to scale our respective SiC manufacturing platforms to 200 mm.”

Coherent supplies SiC substrates to Mitsubishi Electric

Sohail Khan, Executive Vice President, New Ventures & Wide-Bandgap Electronics Technologies at Coherent, said “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.”

Sohail Khan adds, “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.”