8-Inch SiC Wafers from 2024

GlobalWafers has developed its own technology for the production of SiC wafers with a diameter of 8 inches and plans to start production from the fourth quarter of 2024.

According to Doris Hsu, head of GlobalWafers, the new physical vapour transport (PVT) technology should be more cost-effective and deliver higher quality than current processes. Today, SiC wafers usually have a diameter of 6 inches. Doris Hsu, head of GlobalWafers, expects 8-inch SiC wafers to overtake 6-inch wafers as early as 2026. 

GlobalWafers carries out crystal growth and processing of the wafers in its home country of Taiwan, and epitaxy in the USA. Later, parts of the production will also be carried out in GlobalWafers' plants in Japan and Europe. However, according to Hu, the necessary R&D will take place exclusively in Taiwan. GlobalWafers has a global presence and manufactures wafers in 18 plants around the world. 

In 2021, GlobalWafers had announced its intention to acquire Siltronix, but this failed in early 2022 because the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology did not grant approval.