Investing 5 billion euros, STMicroelectronics announces the construction of an 8-inch SiC wafer fab in Italy
2024-06-12
Investing 5 billion euros, STMicroelectronics
announces the construction of an 8-inch SiC wafer fab in Italy
On June 2nd, the world's leading semiconductor supplier STMicroelectronics (ST) announced that it will build a new 200mm (8-inch) silicon carbide (SiC) manufacturing plant in Catania, Italy, mainly for the manufacturing, testing, and packaging of SiC power devices and modules.
Combined with SiC substrate manufacturing factories ready at the same location, these factories will form STMicroelectronics' SiC campus, realizing the company's vision of establishing a fully vertically integrated manufacturing plant. The establishment of this SiC park is an important milestone that will provide SiC equipment support for customers in the automotive, industrial, and cloud infrastructure application fields as they transition towards electrification and pursue higher efficiency.
Jean Marc Chery, President and CEO of STMicroelectronics, stated, "The comprehensive integration capabilities released by the Catania Silicon Carbide Park will make a significant contribution to STMicroelectronics' leadership in silicon carbide technology for automotive and industrial customers in the coming decades. The scale and synergies provided by this project will enable us to better leverage our large-scale production capabilities for innovation, benefiting our European and global customers, helping them transition to electrification, seek more energy-efficient solutions, and achieve decarbonization goals
This SiC park will become the center of STMicroelectronics' global silicon carbide ecosystem, integrating all steps in the production process, including silicon carbide substrate development, epitaxial growth technology, 200mm front-end wafer manufacturing, and module back-end assembly, as well as advanced research and development laboratories for process development, product design, chips, power systems, and modules, and complete packaging capabilities. This will be the first in Europe to achieve mass production of 200nm silicon carbide wafers, with each step of the process (substrate, epitaxy, front-end, and back-end) using 200mm technology to improve yield and performance.
It is reported that the SiC factory plans to start mass production in 2026 and reach full capacity production by 2033. At full capacity, it can produce up to 15000 wafers per week. The estimated total investment is approximately 5 billion euros. The Italian government will provide approximately 2 billion euros in support within the framework of the European Chip Act.
It is worth mentioning that STMicroelectronics currently has a 150nm SiC wafer production line located in Catania, Italy and Hongmao Bridge, Singapore, respectively, producing its flagship SiC products in large quantities. In addition, STMicroelectronics has established a joint venture with Sanan Optoelectronics in China and is currently building a 200nm SiC factory in Chongqing, China, specifically to serve STMicroelectronics in the Chinese market. The research and industrialization of STMicroelectronics' SiC substrates are carried out in Norrk ö ping, Sweden and Catania, Italy. Currently, STMicroelectronics' SiC substrate manufacturing factory is increasing production, and most of its SiC product research and design personnel are stationed here.
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