News: Microelectronics
13 August 2020
II-VI acquiring Ascatron and INNOViON to form vertically integrated SiC power electronics platform
Engineered materials and optoelectronic component maker II-VI Inc of Saxonburg, PA, USA – which manufactures silicon carbide (SiC) substrates – has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all the outstanding shares of Ascatron AB of Kista, Stockholm, Sweden (which was spun out of research institute Acreo in 2011).
II-VI will also acquire all the outstanding interests of the owners of the parent firm of INNOViON Corp of Colorado Springs, CO, USA, which provides ion implantation technology for silicon and compound semiconductor devices.
Both transactions are scheduled to close by the end of 2020.
Led by a team of experts in wide-bandgap materials with more than 200 person-years in the SiC and semiconductor industry, Ascatron produces SiC epitaxial wafers and devices that enable a wide range of high-voltage power electronics applications.
INNOViON is said to be the world’s largest provider of ion implantation services, with 30 implanters across a global footprint supporting capabilities in semiconductor materials processing for up to 300mm wafers. The firm’s processes enable doping in a wide range of semiconductors, including silicon carbide, gallium arsenide, indium phosphide and silicon.
The technology platforms of Ascatron and INNOViON complement to II-VI’s SiC substrates, global large-scale wafer fabrication footprint, and the SiC device technology licensed from GE in June, says II-VI’s CEO Dr Vincent D. Mattera Jr. “While we continue to serve our existing customers with our advanced materials and components, we will combine these capabilities to achieve one of the world’s most advanced, in-house, vertically integrated 150mm SiC technology platforms,” he adds. “This builds upon our deep expertise in SiC substrates and adds advanced SiC epitaxy, device fabrication and module design to meet the rapidly growing demand for SiC power electronics.”
SiC represents a disruptive technology in power electronics through advantages that are pivotal to electric vehicles (EVs), renewable energy, micro-grids and power supplies for data storage and communications. SiC achieves superior efficiency, higher energy density and lower total system-level cost of ownership compared with silicon-based devices.
II-VI says that, as a part of its vertical integration strategy, it is leveraging its broad engineered materials and optoelectronic device technology platforms, as well as its manufacturing capabilities around the globe, to drive scale and innovation through the development of high-performance compound semiconductor devices.
II-VI licenses GE’s SiC power electronics technology
Ascatron secures €3.5m funding for 3DSiC product development
