The Silicon Carbide Industry

Silicon Carbide (SiC) can withstand the high voltage demands of electric vehicle power systems. Wolfspeed offers isolation solutions designed specifically to support SiC designs for traction control inverters.

Silicon Carbide Market Growth Automotive industry growth is driving market growth of silicon carbide while its high temperature resistance drive the demand from the refractory sector.

Automotive

Silicon carbide market growth in the automotive sector is driven by power electronics used by electric and hybrid vehicles (EV/HYV), as these help ensure efficiency. Demand for energy-saving products as well as government incentives encouraging renewable energy adoption drive this market growth.

Silicon carbide is an extremely durable material with strong resistance against corrosion, oxidation and thermal shock as well as outstanding wear and sintering properties. Produced by melting silicon and carbon in an electrically heated furnace to form small crystals which can then be ground into various shapes for industrial uses.

Based on your needs and application, various product forms such as sintered silicon carbide (SiC), tungsten carbide (WC), and cemented urethane (CU) may be available. The latter material provides high performance applications like cutting tools and cylinder liners in petroleum/chemical industry machinery as well as wear resistant components in steel rolling mills.

SiC is widely utilized as an important raw material in refractory applications due to its excellent temperature resistance, making it essential for use in steel, cast iron and non-ferrous industries such as glass manufacturing. Furthermore, its lightweight mirrors for space technology rely on SiC due to its low density and excellent rigidity; its good reflectivity, stability and heat resistance make SiC suitable for manufacturing high-power lasers as well.

Energy & Power

Energy and power industries offer various products to enable people to utilize their energy resources efficiently, including fuels, petroleum products and electricity. Furthermore, this sector includes companies involved in their exploration, production, refining and transportation.

Due to their dependence on fossil fuels, this sector has long been seen as one of the major sources of pollution and global warming. Recently however, efforts are being undertaken to find more sustainable solutions such as biofuels, renewable energy sources and battery technology. To work within this industry successfully requires expertise with geology engineering science degrees for work as well as knowledge of processes involved.

The energy industry is vast, covering every step from extraction through transport and distribution. Research and development help enhance efficiency and reliability; this is especially crucial as fossil-based sources become less dependent; renewable energies become more prevalent; lithium batteries will account for over 85 percent of electric vehicle batteries by 2030 alone!

Telecommunication

Silicon carbide semiconductor devices have rapidly gained favor in power electronics applications due to their outstanding performance and reliability at higher voltages and switching frequencies, particularly at higher voltages and switching frequencies. Furthermore, their wide band gap helps reduce size and weight for reduced costs, with increasing use being seen among electric vehicle (EV) inverter manufacturers expected to drive further growth of this industry over time.

Silicon carbide-based LEDs and optocouplers have contributed significantly to growth in the optoelectronics industry, with II-VI Coherent Corporation and Wolfspeed, Inc. both reporting revenues exceeding USD 3 billion for their fiscal years ending 2021.

Silicon carbide market growth is also driven by energy related applications. Silicon carbide can be found in applications such as solar inverters, uninterruptible power supplies and wind turbines – as well as being key component of high efficiency power converters that help lower total system cost and CO2 emissions of these energy sources.

Semiconductor

Silicon carbide (SiC) is an extremely hard, synthetically produced crystalline compound of silicon and carbon with the chemical formula SiC. Since the late 19th century, silicon carbide has been utilized as an abrasive material in grinding wheels and cutting tools, as refractory linings for industrial furnaces, wear-resistant parts in pumps and rocket engines as well as semiconducting substrates for light-emitting diodes (LED).

Silicon carbide will experience significant growth during its forecast period due to increased demand for electronic devices with better power efficiency and lower resistance, such as bepiColombo’s mission to Mercury using SiC diodes that can withstand its harsh space environment.

Numerous leading players are making investments to meet the rising demand for silicon carbide semiconductor devices, with Qorvo recently acquiring UnitedSiC to increase its portfolio of silicon carbide power semiconductors for circuit protection, electric vehicles (EV), renewable energy generation and data center power systems.

As previously noted, industry growth has been somewhat hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic; however, manufacturers are gradually returning to operations which should stimulate pent-up demand for silicon carbide products and increase sales volumes; consequently, silicon carbide sales and profitability may soon see significant improvement within one or two years.