News: Microelectronics
31 May 2022
Vitesco extends cooperation with Infineon from silicon to SiC
Vitesco Technologies of Regensburg, Germany, which supplies drive technologies and electrification solutions for electro-mobility, has signed a cooperation agreement with Infineon Technologies AG of Munich, Germany, which it says is the world’s leading manufacturer of semiconductors for automotive electronics and a global supplier of power semiconductors made from silicon carbide (SiC). Vitesco is already using SiC components in its existing generation of electronics, where they enable small sizes with high efficiency, for example in very compact high-voltage inverters that control electric drive motors.
“Partnering up with leading semiconductor manufacturers is important for us to master dynamic growth,” believes Vitesco’s CEO Andreas Wolf. “We have been collaborating with Infineon on silicon for a long time. We are now expanding this with SiC power semiconductors. Jointly refining chips specifically for our applications, in the area of electro-mobility, will lead to highly attractive solutions,” he adds.
“Our second silicon carbide generation enables us to develop even more compact and efficient systems,” notes Dr Stephan Zizala, head of Infineon’s Automotive High Power business unit. “With our decades of experience and continuous expansion of manufacturing capacities, we are well positioned for the accelerated growth of the SiC market,” he reckons.
SiC power semiconductors provide voltage layers for electrified drives up to 800V system voltage. Compared with silicon, SiC offers an efficiency advantage, especially at a battery voltage of 800V, extending the range of an electric vehicle (EV). “Range is a key performance characteristic in battery electric driving; higher-efficiency power semiconductors such as SiC will therefore be increasingly used in the future,” says Thomas Stierle, member of the executive board and head of the Electrification Technology business unit at Vitesco.
For Vitesco, this is the second partnership in SiC devices. “We have had excellent experience with the partnership already underway and have industrialized initial applications,” says Stierle. “In view of the strong order intake for electric drives, for example for very compact axle drives, the broad supply base is a strategically important course setting.”
