Mitsubishi Electric Kumamoto SiC wafer fab to be put into operation 5 months ahead of schedule
2024-06-12
Mitsubishi Electric Kumamoto SiC wafer fab to be put into operation 5 months ahead of schedule
Recently, in response to strong market demand, Mitsubishi Electric announced at a performance briefing that its SiC wafer fab under construction in Kumamoto Prefecture will begin operations ahead of schedule. The operation date of the factory has been changed from April 2026 to November 2025, which is about 5 months earlier than expected.
It is reported that in March 2023, Mitsubishi Electric announced an investment of approximately 100 billion yen (about 4.6 billion yuan), most of which will be used to build a new 8-inch SiC wafer factory and strengthen related production facilities. The factory will have its own facility in the Ishii area of Kumamoto Prefecture, producing 8-inch SiC wafers and introducing a clean room with advanced energy efficiency and high automation production efficiency. In addition, Mitsubishi Electric will strengthen its production facilities for 6-inch SiC wafers to meet the growing market demand.
Silicon carbide, also known as SiC, is a semiconductor base material composed of pure silicon and pure carbon. You can add nitrogen or phosphorus to SiC to form n-type semiconductors, or add beryllium, boron, aluminum, or gallium to form p-type semiconductors.
Currently, SiC is becoming increasingly popular in the automotive industry due to the demand for high quality, high reliability, and high efficiency. SiC can effectively meet high voltage requirements. Silicon carbide has the potential to increase the driving range of electric vehicles by improving overall system efficiency, especially in inverter systems, thereby increasing the overall energy-saving effect of the vehicle while reducing the size and weight of battery management systems.
Masayoshi Takemi, Senior Executive Officer and General Manager of Mitsubishi Electric's Semiconductor and Devices Division, stated, "Consulting on SiC power semiconductors for automotive and industrial applications is increasing, and we hope to address the growing demand by producing 8-inch products (with higher production efficiency compared to existing products)." Mitsubishi Electric previously stated that the company's wafer production capacity will expand by approximately five times in 2026 compared to 2022. Mitsubishi Electric's goal is to increase the proportion of SiC sales in its power semiconductor business to over 30% by the fiscal year 2030.
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