Technology changes in the semiconductor industry are once-in-a-generation occurrences. In fact, the last significant semiconductor technology change was in 1963. But right now, a global shift in the industry is underway, driven by one of the hardest materials known to man and one that doesn’t exist naturally on Earth: silicon carbide. 

Silicon has certainly been the industry standard for semiconductors since the beginning, so why the change? Governments are passing new clean energy standards nearly every week, largely focused on electrifying everything from cars to heating and cooling systems to entire cities. Traditional silicon chips powering that technology will not be enough to meet the highest energy efficiency standards. Silicon carbide is 10 - 15% more energy efficient than its legacy silicon counterparts, deeming it essential in high power applications. 

Almost 40% of the world’s energy goes toward powering motors. Changing the base material of the semiconductor to silicon carbide decreases energy consumption, and ultimately carbon emissions, increases operational cost savings, and improves the infrastructure’s thermal sensitivity. Data centers are projected to account for 14% of global energy consumption by 2050. If those data centers were cooled and powered by silicon carbide instead of silicon, the savings could power the island of Manhattan for an entire year. 

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Wolfspeed produces more than 60% of the world’s silicon carbide – and it’s investing in the future of the material with two new planned facilities announced in the past year alone. It’s nothing new for Wolfspeed; they were the first company to figure out how to commercialize silicon carbide as a group of graduate students at North Carolina State University. Since their inception in 1987, the company has made more than 90% of the silicon carbide in the world. They’ve also paved the way in easing supply chain constraints with the introduction of innovative 200mm wafers, translating to 70% more semiconductor chips per wafer. It’s not the end of the road though, in the works are three new R&D facilities with strategic partners to focus on next-generation power semiconductors that harness the power of silicon carbide even further. 

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“We’re just on the cusp of a rapid adoption across the automobile industry, across the industrial industry. This is an amazing moment for silicon carbide,” states Wolfspeed President and CEO Gregg Lowe. He says that for good reason – Yole predicts a 4x increase in silicon carbide power devices by 2027. 

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While there is a great deal of complexity and intellectual property in Wolfspeed’s designs and solutions, what they enable their customers to do is simple – power more while consuming less. They make a difference every day as they partner with their customers to create a greener tomorrow, with whole industries being reinvented and electrified using their cutting-edge technology. They’re helping to create a brighter, more sustainable future for all – one that’s powered by Wolfspeed.

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