Paper EM+2D+NS+TF-WeA7
Challenges in Materials and Processing to Implementation of Energy Efficient SiC Technology

Wednesday, October 23, 2019, 4:20 pm, Room A214

Energy and sustainability have been the main driving forces for the implementation of silicon carbide technology for efficient energy conversion in recent applications in electrical vehicles, hybrid electrical vehicles, data center power management, and photovoltaic and wind power. The decades-long research and development efforts are attributed to the complexity of polytypes of crystal structures of silicon carbide. Reducing these inherent defects from crystal growth and epitaxial layer growth are crucial and continuing tasks. Device architectures are found to be more efficient along selected crystal planes. Innovative processing technologies have to be developed to make these devices built by compound semiconductors with strong covalent bonding manufacturable. Fundamental challenges in materials, devices, and processing technologies will first be briefed. A patent landscape analysis is then conducted herein to reveal the past trends to pave the paths for future research and development. Implementations of silicon carbide devices are in its infancy with some full SiC inverter adopted by a commercial electrical vehicle manufacturer. Market shares and momentum of silicon carbide power electronics as well as the expectations from perspectives of department of energy and industry major players will be discussed. The continuous efforts to address the challenges in materials and processing are encouraged to support the full scale implementation of energy efficient silicon carbide technology.