News: Microelectronics
29 March 2023
Wolfspeed’s Durham HQ hosts first stop on Biden’s ‘Invest in America’ tour
At its headquarters in Durham, NC, USA, Wolfspeed Inc — which makes silicon carbide materials as well as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) power-switching & RF semiconductor devices — hosted the first stop of US President Joe Biden’s ‘Invest in America’ tour, in which he highlighted initiatives designed to boost US manufacturing, rebuild the nation’s infrastructure and strengthen supply chains. US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper were also in attendance at the event.
Picture: From left to right: Wolfspeed’s CEO Gregg Lowe; President Joe Biden; and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper.
As a US company at the forefront of the transition from silicon to silicon carbide to enhance technology efficiency and energy savings, Wolfspeed believes that initiatives like the CHIPS & Science Act that are investing in and advancing the semiconductor industry will help to propel the transition to electric vehicles, the move to faster 5G networks, the evolution of renewable energy and energy storage, and the advancement of industrial applications.
“Silicon carbide is at the heart of what we do — it’s essential to accelerating the adoption of EVs, delivering energy savings to consumers, and meeting global emission reduction targets,” notes Wolfspeed’s president & CEO Gregg Lowe. “Wolfspeed is proud to play a critical role in fulfilling the objectives of the CHIPS & Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, and to reinforce US leadership in the energy transition and the semiconductor industry.”
At its headquarters in Durham, NC, Wolfspeed currently produces more than 60% of the world’s silicon carbide materials. However, the firm is engaged in a $6.5bn capacity expansion effort to dramatically increase production. This includes the opening of its 200mm Mohawk Valley device fab in Marcy, NY in April 2022, and construction of The John Palmour Manufacturing Center for Silicon Carbide, a 445-acre SiC materials facility in North Carolina, which will expand the firm’s existing materials capacity by more than 10x. Phase-one construction for the materials facility is expected to be completed in 2024. In February, Wolfspeed also announced plans to build a highly automated 200mm SiC fab in Saarland, Germany.
Wolfspeed and NC A&T to establish joint silicon carbide R&D facility
Wolfspeed to build largest SiC materials plant in Chatham County, North Carolina
