News: Microelectronics
7 June 2023
ST and Sanan creating 200mm SiC device fab JV in China
STMicroelectronics of Geneva, Switzerland and China’s Sanan Optoelectronics Co Ltd — which manufactures LEDs, silicon carbide (SiC), optical communications, RF, filters and gallium nitride (GaN) products — have agreed to create a new 200mm silicon carbide device manufacturing joint venture (JV) in Chongqing, China.
The new SiC fab should start production in fourth-quarter 2025. Full buildout is expected in 2028, supporting the rising demand in China for car electrification as well as for industrial power and energy applications.
The full buildout of the JV is expected to cost about $3.2bn, including capital expenditure of about $2.4bn over the next five years, financed by contributions from ST and Sanan Optoelectronics, local government support, and loans to the JV. Completion of the project is subject to regulatory approvals.
The JV will make SiC devices exclusively for ST, using ST’s proprietary SiC manufacturing process technology, and serve as a dedicated foundry to ST to support the demand of its Chinese customers.
In parallel, Sanan Optoelectronics will build and operate separately a new 200mm SiC substrate manufacturing facility to fulfill the JV’s needs, using its own SiC substrate process.
“China is moving fast towards electrification in automotive and industrial, and this is a market where ST is already well-established with many engaged customer programs,” says ST’s president & CEO Jean-Marc Chery. “Creating a dedicated foundry with a key local partner is the most efficient way to serve the rising demand of our Chinese customers. The combination of Sanan Optoelectronics’ future 200mm substrate manufacturing facility with the front-end JV and ST’s existing back-end facility in Shenzhen, China will enable ST to offer our Chinese customers a fully vertically integrated SiC value chain,” he adds. “It is an important step to further scale up our global SiC manufacturing operations, coming in addition to our continuing significant investments in Italy and Singapore. This JV is expected to be one of the enablers of the opportunity we see to reach $5bn+ SiC revenues by 2030. This initiative is consistent with ST’s 2025–27 $20bn+ revenue ambition and the associated financial model, previously communicated to the financial markets,” Chery continues.
“The establishment of this joint venture will be a major driving force for the wide adoption of SiC devices on the Chinese market,” reckons Sanan Optoelectronics’ CEO Simon Lin. “Being an international, well-known, high-quality SiC foundry service company, Sanan will also supply its SiC substrate to this new joint venture, by building a dedicated new SiC substrate factory,” he adds. “This is an important step for Sanan Optoelectronics’ ambitions as a SiC foundry.”
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