12 September 2011

Ascatron spun off from Sweden’s Acreo as first independent pure-play SiC foundry 

Swedish microelectronics and optics research institute Acreo AB of Kista, Sweden, has announced the foundation of Ascatron. Based on silicon carbide (SiC) technology developed at Acreo, Ascatron will specialize in the manufacturing of energy-efficient SiC semiconductors. Target customers are suppliers of power devices and modules to the power electronic industry.

Ascatron is claimed to be the first independent ‘pure play’ SiC foundry offering a complete fabrication service from device epitaxy to diced wafers.

“Now is the right time to build up production capacity for SiC devices. The demand for our epi service has increased significantly and we have run our two R&D reactors at a maximum capacity over the last two years,” says Acreo’s CEO Mårten Armgarth. “The commercialization of our SiC process technology is in line with our mission to transfer research results to industry. When a technology is mature enough and the market demand is identified, our strategy is to look at the possibilities to start a new company,” he adds. 

“With our know-how in development of different types of SiC devices, Ascatron can optimize the fabrication process to the design and specifications required by the customer,” says Adolf Schöner, manager of the SiC group at Acreo and co-founder of Ascatron. “We will focus on fast delivery of small series for market verification, followed by a production ramp-up in accordance with the customer needs.”

Ascatron is starting to scale-up the SiC fabrication technology, developed at Acreo, during September. Ascatron is initially using the established 4” wafer SiC process line at Acreo’s Electrum Laboratory in Kista, Sweden. As part of the roadmap to serve the growing SiC industry, Ascatron plans to build up a dedicated large-volume SiC device production fab, capable of handling more than 50,000 6” wafers per year.

Acreo will continue R&D activities in SiC semiconductors, focusing on device and module design for energy-efficient power electronics. To accelerate the implementation of efficient power electronics, Acreo plans to start the SiC Power Center, a platform for application-oriented R&D activities in a collaboration between industry, research institutes and universities.

Tags: Acreo AB SiC SiC epitaxy SiC devices

Visit: www.ascatron.com

Visit: www.acreo.se/nanoelectronics